With the collapse of two major coalitions, which considerably reduced their strength in various constituencies, parties are increasingly relying on caste cards to put up a good show in the October 15 assembly elections.
All prominent parties, including the Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena and BJP, have fielded prominent faces of various castes to improve their winning chances. "This is a very unique election," said political observer Ashok Pawar. He said caste, money, perception about a candidate and his work will largely influence the voters.
"Only money is not going to help win the elections. The person must be from the dominant caste. In India, people still prefer to give their daughter and vote in the same caste. Smaller the constituencies, larger is the role of caste and money," said Pawar. In case two or three candidates from the same caste are in the fray, minority votes will decide the outcome, he said.
Liladhar Patil, who closely watches Maharashtra politics, said people need leaders of their communities to represent them in the assembly and raise caste-specific issues. "Thanks to caste politics, leaders like Mahadeo Jankar and Vinayak Mete are getting importance in the state polls. Maratha may be a major caste, but many constituencies are still represented by non-Marathas," he said.
In multi-cornered fights, if a candidate manages to get the support of the minorities, his chances of winning becomes brighter. "This is because the majority caste votes get divided due to presence of more than one candidates, said Patil.
He said the 2014 state polls have given an opportunity to several aspirants to check their strength. "Candidates belonging to dominating castes in a particular constituency will play the decisive role. Here, there are less chances of Hindu-Muslim polarisation because Maharashtra different from Uttar Pradesh. Though there are Muslim pockets in every village, they are not in large number, hence candidates do not perceive them as a threat," said Patil.
On Modi factor, Patil said that the prime minister won't make any statements that will divide Hindus and Muslims. Patil added, "Now, he wants to project himself as a global leader, and to do this dirty job, he has got his man Friday – Amit Shah, BJP national president. Shah may try to do that, but I don't think he will succeed. However, October 19 will tell in which direction the wave was blowing."
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