Dausa, Dec. 3: The Meenas and the Gujjars — the two castes that will determine the outcome of the five Assembly seats in Dausa bordering Uttar Pradesh — cannot stand each other.

But in these elections, they have straddled the caste divide and seem equally determined to vote the BJP out. Never mind the Gujjars’ carp of how the Meenas have cornered the largest share of state patronage and perks.

The nearly three-month-long bloody clashes between the two in Dausa and 10 neighbouring districts have uncorked the caste genie, bottled for long. The monster is out to consume the BJP, though chief minister Vasundhara Raje has claimed she will get both their votes by placating the Gujjars without antagonising the Meenas.

“Vasundhara mixed the poisonous caste potion to divide us. She will have to drink it,” said Babulal Meena, the sarpanch of Gantrawa village.

The conflict erupted in May 2007 when the Gujjars held Vasundhara to her pre-election promise of granting them Scheduled Tribe status. The Gujjars, listed among the Other Backward Classes, have alleged that they never got a level-playing field with other OBCs. They believe the ST status would give them a fairer chance of getting a share of the reservation pie.

Their charge was underscored by the perception that the Scheduled Caste Meenas were way ahead in education and jobs. When the government refused to heed the Gujjar demand and repeatedly opened fire on the protesters, killing 90, they were convinced the Meena-dominated police force was out to crush them, supported by the chief minister.

Vasundhara tried to close the issue by promising a special 5 per cent quota to the Gujjars. The proposal was not implemented.

With a day left for the vote, it is not reservation but the memories of police killings that are on top of the Gujjars’ mind. “One vote for every drop of blood we shed. That’s our slogan. We will avenge the destruction wrought by killer Vasundhara,” said Siya Ram Kasana, a farmer of Dubigaon.

The Congress is their first and, mostly, only choice though a local Gujjar party, the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, is in the fray. “By instinct, we want to vote this party. But we will be tactical and vote the Congress because it only can defeat the BJP,” said Jai Singh of Sanvas.

Think Congress and it’s Dausa MP Sachin Pilot, a Gujjar, who is the poster boy. “He’s the monarch of our hearts,” said Nehru Singh, a student of Rajesh Pilot Government College, Bandikui.

The Meenas figured out that their social isolation in the rural spaces of Rajasthan — that were always more well-knit than those in Uttar Pradesh — will not help them in the long run. The Gujjars gained the sympathy of the other castes, including the Brahmins who have virtually boycotted the Meenas.

“Vasundhara has divided us, we hope the Congress will integrate us,” said sarpanch Meena.