Mayawati sets her sights on Gurjjar votes

At Pilupura, the epicentre of the Gurjjar agitation, there is a political storm brewing that might spell trouble for both the BJP and the Congress...

At Pilupura, the epicentre of the Gurjjar agitation, there is a political storm brewing that might spell trouble for both the BJP and the Congress in the upcoming Rajasthan assembly elections. Here, Mayawati8217;s Bahujan Samaj Party BSP is slowly emerging as an option for the angry Gurjjars.

8220;Both the BJP and the Congress have not done anything for us. We will vote for the party that gives us reservation,8221; said 80-year-old Pritham Patel Lathua who has been camping at Pilupura.

For sometime now, the BSP has been working to woo the Gurjjars. Last year, Prahlad Gunjal, the BJP MLA from Ramganj Mandi in Kota district, and Attar Singh Bhadana, the BJP8217;s Bayana MLA, were suspended from the party for supporting the Gurjjar movement. Both of them walked over to the BSP soon after. For months before the agitation, the duo and a few other BSP leaders had been campaigning among Gurjjar villagers, trying to build a base for the BSP. Their effort was to end with a massive Mayawati rally in Jaipur on May 29, the first anniversary of the Gurjjar protest. However, the rally had to called off as just days before the event, on May 23, the Gurjjar protest turned violent and 17 people were killed in police firing at Pilupura village.

Advocate Attar Singh, a prominent Gurjjar leader, said they would vote for the party that supports their demand. 8220;In Rajasthan, Gurjjars make up 6.72 per cent of the population but have no representation in the Assembly. There should have been at least 14 Gurjjar MLAs. The Meenas have 24 seats reserved for them but at times, their representation goes up to 34. We will wait for Raje to send the letter recommending ST status to us. But eventually, we will have to decide who to vote for.8221;

Mayawati has set her targets high, said local BSP leader Ram Kumar Jhatav. 8220;At present, the BSP has two seats in the assembly. But Behenji has told us to aim for 90 seats this time. We hope to get SC and Gurjjar voters on our side. We strongly believe the Gurjjars deserve quota. Behenji has reiterated this on several occasions. On May 29, the BSP was to hold a Sankalp Parivartan Rath Yatra in Jaipur but we had to call it off because of the violence on May 23.8221;

But the Congress, which has been worried about losing ground to the BSP in other states too, said the BSP was playing politics over the issue. 8220;The BSP8217;s leaders have been trying to divide the community but the BSP won8217;t be successful,8221; said Congress ex-MLA Brijendra Singh Supa.

On the ground, however, the Gurjjars are clear about their choices. 8220;Neither the BJP government in the state nor the UPA government in the Centre is supporting us,8221; said 30-year-old Om Prakash of Sikandra village.

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K.S. Bainsala, however, himself is tightlipped about the possible political implications of his movement. 8220;I am not a politician, I am here just to fight for reservation for Gurjjars,8221; he said.