Religion, especially in public life, has made a big comeback under the current ruling party. This party is also generally considered an upper-caste party. I assume much of it is due to implicit soft support from the ruling establishment.
A lot of Vaishyas have been certifying themselves as Backward caste in order to obtain affirmative action privileges. Including the dominant caste in Gujarat, the Patels - with the Patidar movement.
Modis were added to OBC list in 2002. This is a subversion of affirmative action which was meant to help lower castes, not upper castes.
BJP is primarily composed of upper castes. Only performative functions like Presidency are granted to lower castes.
Can confirm this. My caste is OBC as well, even though it is among the most politically powerful and is classified as a warrior caste with high percentage of land ownership.
Heck, in my home state, Rajputs, former rulers, have been lobbying to get categorized as OBC because of the reservation benefits.
