BJP gets breather: Gujarat’s Kshatriyas not to protest against Modi, out of respect for PM’s office

“Country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is arriving in Jamnagar tomorrow, May 2, 2024 for addressing an election meeting. In that respect, the Coordination Committee has unanimously decided that with the noble intention of respecting the dignity and respect of the office of prime minister, there shall be no protests of any kind against the event of Prime Minister,” the GRSOCC said in the release.

PT Jadeja, a member of the GRSOCC and prominent face of the ongoing protests, told The Indian Express that his community would now turn its focus to mobilising Kshatriyas for the May 7 vote.

“In democracy, the most lethal weapon is votes. Therefore, we have decided to wield that weapon by mobilising Khatriyas at polling booths. To achieve this, we have decided not to spend our energies on disrupting election meetings of the BJP by waving black flags,” he said.

Modi is scheduled to address public meetings in Surendranagar, Junagadh and Jamnagar on Thursday.

The announcement may give a sigh of relief to the BJP as the party’s election campaign events have been witnessing disruptions by members of the Kshatriya community for around a month now. The protests started after Union minister Parshottam Rupala, who is the BJP’s candidate for the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat, remarked at an event late in March that Raja-Maharajas had bowed down to the foreign rulers and sought friendly ties with them by breaking bread with them and giving their daughters in marriage.

However, Jadeja said the community would go ahead with its planned conventions. “We are going ahead with our conventions as part of mobilisation. We are holding our convention in Anand this evening,” he said.

After Anand, Kshatriyas are scheduled to organise a convention at Khijadiya Chokdi on the outskirts of Jamnagar on Friday. The GRSOCC press release also urged Kshariyas to send at least two members each to that convention.

“This is a social agitation and we want to do it in a peaceful manner by using democratic tools,” Jadeja added.