In its attempt to enhance OBC representation, the Congress has allocated one-third of its tickets to this category, amounting to 72 tickets. This figure slightly surpasses the BJP’s count of 70 candidates from the Other Backward Classes. Despite prioritizing increased representation for women, the Congress falls short of fulfilling half of the pledged quota, providing women with 14% of the tickets. Among the 199 Congress candidates, 44 belong to upper castes, while the BJP has allocated tickets to 63 upper caste candidates out of its total 200 candidates. One seat in Bharatpur is reserved for Congress ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). The OBC tickets from Congress include 34 for Jats, 11 for Gujjars (with Sachin Pilot being a prominent Gujjar leader), 4 each for Yadavs and Bishnois, 3 each for Malis and Patels, and 2 each for Kumhars and Kalals, among others. Meenas secure all eight additional seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST). The Congress has fielded 15 Muslim candidates, constituting 7.5% of its total, while the BJP has not given any tickets to this community, representing over 9% of the population. The representation of Scheduled Castes (SC) is at 17%, with 34 reserved seats and one additional SC candidate. Women constitute 14% of the Congress candidates (28 women), while the BJP, despite recently passing the women’s reservation Act, has 10% women candidates (20 women). In comparison to the 2018 elections, the number of women candidates in the Congress list has remained consistent, with 27 in 2018 and 28 in the current list. The BJP has fielded three fewer women compared to its 2018 candidate count. In terms of incumbents, the Congress has repeated 26 of its 30 ministers and 63 of its sitting MLAs, maintaining 89 of its 108 incumbent MLAs.
