Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Joint General Secretary Krishna Gopal on Sunday urged voters to choose candidates based on their qualifications and not their caste, PTI reported. The apparent jibe at parties, including the Bahujan Samaj Party that has been criticised as being casteist, is seen as the saffron camp’s bid to reach out to various caste groups ahead of the Assembly elections in five states next month.

“Some people have personal and political vested interests, and they use caste as their vote bank, which I believe is not good in a democratic set up,” Gopal said in Delhi on Sunday. Citing the Rig Veda, he said, “Everything depended on the capability of a person in those days. But this system has been lost somewhere.”

The Assembly elections begin on February 4 in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 2 addressed an election rally in Uttar Pradesh and told people to vote for development and not on the basis of caste or creed.