Ravindra Singh Bhati, the 29‑year‑old independent MLA who captured Sheo with 79,495 votes and a 3,950‑vote margin, has set a 5‑day march to press for an upper‑caste EWS quota.
The campaign will begin at Barmer’s Alok Ashram on September 25, a date deemed auspicious in the Hindu calendar, and finish in Jodhpur after five days of rallies.
Bhati argues that 24 % of Rajasthan’s voters belong to upper castes who feel sidelined by the current reservation system that favours Scheduled Castes and OBCs, and that economic‑weaker‑section seats have been used disproportionately by wealthier groups.
Historically, forward castes such as Rajputs and Brahmins have backed the BJP, but the party’s 2019 use of the 103rd Amendment to secure upper‑caste reservations helped it win 24 of 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state, a move Bhati sees as a blueprint for his own agenda.
The ‘Saralikaran yatra’ will also call for parity in EWS criteria between state and central laws, a demand that could trigger legislative reviews ahead of the 2024 panchayat polls.
Local youth supporters, many of whom Bhati met during his university presidency, are lining up to join the march, and the MLA vows that the rally will bring their voices to the state assembly.