Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Of the eight Gujjar MLAs elected in the 2018 Rajasthan Assembly elections, none were from the BJP. Hoping for a change in the elections scheduled for later this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a programme on Saturday to commemorate the 1,111th avataran mahotsav of Gujjar deity Devnarayan in Bhilwara in the state.
In his address, the PM heaped praises on the deity and the Gujjar community, saying that the path of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas had been shown by the deity himself. The PM added that in the 1,111th year of Devnarayan’s incarnation on a lotus, India assumed the G-20 presidency. The G-20 logo shows a lotus carrying the earth. “We are those people who have been with the lotus since birth. Hence, our connection is quite deep,” the PM said.
The eight MLAs from the community who were elected in 2018 are former deputy CM Sachin Pilot, incumbent ministers Shakuntala Rawat and Ashok Chandna, as well as Gajraj Khatana, Indraj Gurjar, Jitendra Singh, Bidhuri Rajendra Singh and Joginder Singh Awana. Except Awana who was elected on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket, the others were from the Congress. Awana, however, went on to join the Congress in 2019 along with the six BSP MLAs in the state.
Pilot is the tallest among the Gujjar leaders and the community and his supporters rally behind him almost fervently.
The BJP, however, has had an uncomfortable equation with the community at least for a decade and a half. During the Gujjar reservation agitation between 2007 –2008, when the BJP was in power under Vasundhara Raje, over 70 persons were killed in police firings.
Kirori Singh Bainsla, the chief architect of the agitation, passed away in 2022. His son Vijay Bainsla has attempted to take on the mantle but has had little luck so far.
Vijay is considered to be closer to the BJP but this itself has antagonised a section of the community, which has accused him of being with the party that “martyred Gujjars”. Bainsla has attempted to rally the community behind various issues but these have failed to find traction. Hence, the BJP does not have a Gujjar face who can shore up the community’s votes.
Modi’s overtures to Gujjars also contrast with the Raje government’s actions during the agitation over a decade and a half ago. The party’s central leadership and Raje have had a rough relationship in the recent past, with the former chief minister maintaining her independent streak that does not seem to go down well in a party now strictly controlled from the top.
Additionally, a section of the community is at odds with CM Ashok Gehlot, whom they accuse of preventing Pilot from sitting on the CM chair. The community’s disaffection with the Congress may grow depending on the developments leading up to the Assembly elections. If the gulf between the two leaders widens, the BJP will look to make the most of it.
Meanwhile, the CM has announced a state holiday for Saturday to observe Devnarayan Jayanti. The Devnarayan Board was first constituted after the Gujjar agitation and is currently led by Awana. Rawat, Chandna, and other Gujjar leaders had earlier written letters to Gehlot, demanding that the day be declared a holiday. Through the non-Pilot camp of Gujjar leaders, the CM has also attempted to portray that all is well between him and the community.
A month ago, the CM also held a programme at Uchain in Nadbai – Awana’s constituency in the Bharatpur district – where he inaugurated 13 projects worth Rs 95 crore and laid the foundation stone of 11 projects worth Rs 333 crore. Speaking at the programme, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra declared, “Among all our meetings in the last four years, this is the biggest meeting and is organised by Joginder Awana.”
Not to be left behind, Raje, who was not present at the PM’s event, pointed out on Saturday that under her government “a grand panorama of Lord Devnarayan ji was built at the Lord’s birthplace in Malaseri” in 2018. She added, “I am happy that this panorama, built with a cost of around Rs 4.5 crores, will keep his lasting memories in people’s minds forever.”
As elections approach, the overtures towards the community may grow, even as the leaders try to fend off threats from other quarters. Targeting Modi over his programme, former Congress MLA Dheeraj Gurjar said, “Lakhs of Gujjar brothers of the country, including me, were hoping that our demand for inclusion of reservation in the ninth schedule would be given a stamp of approval and that a Gujjar regiment would be announced, but nothing happened. Just an election meeting was held and the community was again left empty-handed.”
