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Journalism of Courage
Asked whether she worries about Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi’s “risky” public life, his wife Sheela Shekhawat, in an interview to a local TV news channel a few years ago, had said that “I do worry but I trust Rajput brothers to back him and stand with him in difficult times”.
On Tuesday, Sukhdev Singh Shekhawat, better known as Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, the Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena (SRRKS) president, was shot dead at his Jaipur home with his bodyguards also gunning down one of the assailants. He was 50 years old. Gangster Rohit Godara purportedly took responsibility for Gogamedi’s murder in a Facebook post.
A resident of Bhadra in Hanumangarh district, Gogamedi got his surname from his native village. Born into a primarily agricultural family led by his father Achal Singh, he studied till middle school at a government school in Bhadra.
Not much is known about his background until around the mid-2000s, when Gogamedi actively started taking part in the Rajput community’s campaigns and even leading them. He used to consider Maharana Pratap as his idol, and often quoted him.
Gogamedi built his profile in Bhadra over the years and contested at least one election in this Assembly seat as he managed to secure a ticket from the BSP for the 2013 polls. He finished third behind the BJP and CPM candidates, polling over 30,000 votes or about 18 per cent of total votes polled.
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Subsequently, Gogamedi was made the chief of Lokendra Kalvi-led Shri Rajput Kalvi Sena (SRKS) but owing to differences between the two, Kalvi expelled him.
Gogamedi then set up the SRRKS, which gained notoriety for being behind the slapping of filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali in January 2017 during the shooting of Padmaavat at Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur. The SRRKS accused Bhansali of allegedly distorting history in the film.
In April this year, the SRRKS also organised a Kesariya Mahapanchayat in Jaipur and demanded an increase in Economic Weaker Section (EWS) quota for general castes from 10% to 14%.
Gogamedi also sought a Congress ticket from Bhadra for the recent Rajasthan Assembly elections, but was denied. In what turned out to be his last post on ‘X’, he stated that the Congress suffered a “humiliating loss” due to “wrong ticket distribution” and for “ignoring” Karni Sena. He pointed out that in Bhadra itself the Congress was relegated to the fifth position.
Over the years, Gogamedi also faced several cases, including those related to murder, rape, etc.
Sheela however said, “I was told (before marriage) that his background wasn’t good, but I have only seen him do good. If you look in Bhadra itself from where he contested, he helped the poor with a roof, with the marriages of poor daughters, he has done all of that. I am proud of him.”
Sheela had also joined the SRRKS and headed its women wing.
In 2021, an SRKS faction led by Ajit Mamdoli merged with Gogamedi’s SRRKS. Currently, as per Mamdoli, there are two SRKS apart from one SRRKS, all of which trace their roots to the original SRKS founded in 2006 by Mamdoli and with which Kalvi too was initially associated.
Despite the infamy and the cases, Gogamedi continued to remain important due to the relevance of caste politics. His prominence and that of his outfit could be gauged from the point that the condolence messages over his death came in from across the political spectrum, from the state leaders to national faces.
