A J-K Gurjjar could contest Dausa seat

After being given a raw deal by the BJP and Congress in Rajasthan,even after the bloodshed in the 2007 and 2008 Gurjjar agitations.....

After being given a raw deal by the BJP and Congress in Rajasthan,even after the bloodshed in the 2007 and 2008 Gurjjar agitations,the community has decided to bring in a Muslim Gurjjar candidate from Jammu and Kashmir to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Dausa. The constituency has been reserved for Scheduled Tribes following the delimitation exercise.

The move has been proposed as the Gurjjar community in J&K has ST status and the final decision is to be taken at a meeting of community leaders on March 19.

Col Kirori Singh Bainsla,who spearheaded the twin agitations in the state,on Saturday said,Yes,there is a candidate from Jammu,Qammar Rabbani,who wants to contest the elections from Dausa,but the final decision will be taken by the Gurjjar community. We are weighing all options at this time and will make formal announcements after a meeting in Bandikui on March 19.

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Dausa had been the pocketborough of the Pilots (Congress leader Sachin Pilot and his father the late Rajesh Pilot) till the delimitation exercise.

Rajasthan Gurjjar leaders maintain that other communities in Dausa,including the Brahmins,have openly supported them. Bainsla said the support stemmed from a general distrust of the powerful Meena community,which has the ST status.

Roop Singh Gurjjar,a close aide of Bainsla,said, We have to become politically active to achieve our goals and work towards the upliftment of the community. He added that if Rabbani was selected,the upper Gurjjar echelons were even contemplating similar candidates in Bhilwara,Tonk and even Jhalawad,from where former BJP chief minister Vasundhara Rajes son Dushyant is an MP.

Speaking to The Sunday Express,Rabbani,who was in Rajasthan during the twin agitations,maintained that it was the Gurjjar community in the state who prodded him to contest elections. The Gurjjars have been dominated over by other communities for years now and this has to change. Our prime agenda is of course ST status in Rajasthan, Rabbani said.