Ramgarh: Unlike other parts of Rajasthan where caste plays a dominant role, in this tiny township of Alwar district, where BJP and Congress are pitted against each other,religion is also something that may count.

This assembly constituency boasts of a sizable Purusharthi population - people who came to India after the Partition and settled in Rajasthan. While nearly 70 per cent were accommodated here, the rest are spread out in Ajmer and Ganganagar regions.

The other major chunk of the electorate comprises Mews , who are Muslims.

The Purusharthis consist of mainly Punjabis and Sikhs, and the BJP s candidate Gyan Dev Ahuja too is a Punjabi.

The Congress has once again fielded Jubair Khan who has represented the seat in 1990,1993 and 2003.

Though the electoral fight between Khan and Ahjua had been quite intense, the latter had managed to win only once in 1998 in this constituency consisting of 1.68 lakh voters. Interestingly, most of the time the margins for the victory had been very thin --- anything between a few hundreds to about a thousand votes.

In the last election, Khan won by a margin of 783 votes. Out of the total 1,07,587 votes polled, Khan managed 49,563 votes and Ahuja managed 48,780 votes.

"I have lost most of the times but that does not matter. I have proved that people support me and the BJP policies," said Ahuja.

Khan, on the other hand, gives credit of his wins to his "hard work and the development-oriented policies of the UPA."

Source : PTI