Amid Gehlot-Shekhawat tussle, Congress gets a warning signal from Rajput body before polls

At a function on June 2, Gehlot kept up his attack, saying: “I called up Bhagwan Singh Rolsahabsar who is his (Shekhawat’s) guru (and head of the Kshatriya Yuvak Sangh). I called that good man and said ‘Bhagwan Singh ji, this chela (disciple) of yours, people are sinking because of him, please help the people get back their money.’ There may be some compulsions because of which he is not able to do anything.”

The CM went on to add that the public should speak up “about the money which has sunk” and asked “why the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was not probing the case”.

The Pratap Foundation, which is associated with the Kshatriya Yuvak Sangh, the apex Rajput body in Rajasthan, went on to shoot off a three-page letter to Gehlot on June 5, slamming the CM for some of his recent comments mentioning Rolsahabsar. Unlike other Rajput outfits such as the Karni Sena, the Kshatriya Yuvak Sangh, which was founded by former MP Tan Singh, says it does not involve itself in politics.

The letter to Gehlot from senior Pratap Foundation member Mahaveer Singh Sarvadi states: “You are the CM of the state. Making such baseless statements by involving the name of Shree Bhagwan Singh Sahab is not dignified behaviour on your behalf. Please make this point suitable for consideration. Honourable Bhagwan Singh ji cannot be a part of any personal motives in the arena of politics.”

Backing Shekhawat in the Sanjivani case, the letter claims, “Many cases such as Sanjivani happen in the state. Despite that, one politician is speaking rubbish against another politician by raking up the Sanjivani case. The common public is understanding everything…The investigation in Sanjivani case has been kept open for the past four years. Character assassination of our community’s rising leader Gajendra Singh Shekhawat cannot be done.”

In his reaction to the letter, Gehlot told reports Tuesday, “I had spoken about Bhagwan Singh Rolsahabsar and I got a letter today from his organisation about why I took his name. I am taking his name after respecting him that he (Shekhawat) will listen to him because he (Shekhawat) has been a disciple of him (Rolsahabsar). The poor will benefit. Bhagwan Singh ji always talks about the benefit of the poor. What wrong have I said.”

Sarvadi told The Indian Express: “After the CM’s recent statement, I had spoken to people of our community. They think that because of political reasons, CM Gehlot is targeting Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. There is a lot of anger in the community which led us to write the letter.”

The significance of the Kshatriya Yuvak Sangh in Rajasthan’s politics could be gauged from an event it held in 2021, held to celebrate its 75th year, when a slew of leaders and legislators across party lines had participated in the programme.

All the major Rajput leaders in the state – Shekhawat, BJP leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, Rajasthan Cabinet Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Congress leader Dharmendra Rathore – spoke at that event.

The Rajput community has traditionally been a BJP support base. At the time of the 2018 Lok Sabha elections, however, the Congress managed to capitalise on the community’s discontent with the saffron party owing to issues such as the encounter of gangster Anandpal Singh and the sidelining of senior leaders such as Jaswant Singh during the tenure of former CM Vasundhara Raje. But the Pratap Foundation’s criticism, coming ahead of the Assembly elections slated for December, might not be a positive sign for the party.