Kanhaiya Lal murder: BJP hot on its heels, Gehlot govt gives jobs, tweaks rules with eye on Rajput vote

The Udaipur-based tailor Kanhaiya Lal was killed in June last year over his alleged sharing of a social media post in support of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s remarks against the Prophet. The two men had followed the two accused, who were fleeing on a motorcycle, informed the police of their whereabouts, and did not back off even when they had brandished their daggers to threaten them.

More than a year after the arrest of the two murder accused, the timing of the Gehlot government’s decision to give jobs to Prahlad and Shakti — less than three months before the state Assembly elections — again highlighted its bid to counter the principal Opposition BJP, which has repeatedly used the Kanhaiya Lal case to accuse the Congress of indulging in “appeasement politics”.

The BJP had targeted the Gehlot government immediately after the incident, with the then state party president Satish Poonia claiming that the administration had not paid heed to Kanhaiya Lal when he had asked for security from the local police.

The Congress was quick to launch a counter attack, sharing photos of one of the accused with senior Udaipur BJP leaders to allege their nexus with the saffron party.

Gehlot went a step further to charge that BJP leaders had earlier “pressured” the local police to not register a case against Mohammad Riyaz, when he had a dispute with his landlord.

From the outset the Gehlot dispensation thus sought to pre-empt the BJP’s attempts to capitalise on the issue.

The FIR registered in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case by the Rajasthan police has sections of the UAPA, that made it eligible for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a central agency, to take over. And, within days, the state police handed over the case to the NIA for investigation.

Some days after the incident, Gehlot reached Udaipur to meet Kanhaiya Lal’s family. He announced a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the family along with government jobs for two of the victim’s sons.

Since then, this relief package has become a benchmark of sorts in the state, as aggrieved parties in various cases now demand a compensation like the one given to Kanhaiya Lal’s family.

A notable instance in this regard is related to the murder of Bharatpur residents, Nasir and Junaid, by alleged cow vigilantes earlier this year. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has repeatedly slammed the Gehlot government over the difference in compensation amounts given to the Kanhaiya Lal’s family and Nasir-Junaid’s kins.

“We condemn the death of Kanhaiya Lal. I accept that those who killed Kanhaiya Lal are terrorists. If we don’t call the murderers of Junaid and Nasir terrorists as well, then what will we call them? Will we call them deshbhakt (patriots)? Yes, definitely Kanhaiya Lal has been killed by terrorists, but those who killed Junaid and Nasir are also terrorists. When the CM was asked why Kanhaiya Lal’s compensation was Rs 50 lakh, but Junaid and Nasir’s was Rs 15 lakh, he said Kanhaiya Lal was killed by terrorists. Ashok Gehlot Sahab, I can’t understand your definition of terrorist?” Owaisi had told a rally in Jaipur in July this year.

Subsequently, Gehlot went to Bharatpur to meet the families of Nasir and Junaid.

Addressing a rally in Udaipur in June this year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held the Congress government responsible for allegedly not bringing Kanhaiya Lal’s killers to justice, even as he accused Gehlot of practising “vote bank politics”.

“I am saying this emphatically, the chargesheet has been filed on December 22, 2022. It is your job to set up the special court so that speedy punishment could be given. The Rajasthan government is not setting up a special court by taking the high court into confidence. Otherwise, by now the accused in Kanhaiya Lal (case) would have been hanged. They should be ashamed, they do politics of vote bank,” Shah said.

Gehlot hit back at Shah, accusing him of “lying” and being “irresponsible”.

Observers say the Gehlot Cabinet’s decision to award jobs to Prahlad and Shakti is a bid to woo Rajputs, as the duo belongs to the Rajput community. For the past one year, Rajput outfits such as the Karni Sena have been demanding jobs for them for their heroics. By conceding their demand, the Congress hopes to regain some of the support that it had received from the Rajput community in the 2018 Assembly elections.

Job as compensation is awarded by the Rajasthan government in rare cases. In several recent incidents, when aggrieved parties have held vociferous protests, the state government has offered them just contractual jobs.

Rajputs, who claim to make up 11-12 per cent of the state’s population, are spread through its 200 Assembly constituencies. They have been traditional BJP voters, who could influence the outcome in many seats.

They had tilted towards the Congress ahead of the 2018 elections, when several factors had turned the community against the then Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government, including police encounter of gangster Anandpal Singh, sidelining of BJP stalwart late Jaswant Singh, and cases slapped against Rajput leaders after some of their protests had turned violent.