Jaipur, May 06: The month-long Gurjjar agitation in Rajasthan came to an end on Wednesday after a final round of successful talks between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and community leader Col Kirori Singh Bainsla. The government has agreed to give Gurjjars and three other communities five per cent reservation in the state within the next two months.
Bainsla, who resigned from all posts in the BJP on Monday, arrived in Jaipur for the last round of talks on Tuesday with Gehlot, even as he called for a mahapanchayat in Bharatpur and threatened to up the ante. However, senior government authorities on Wednesday said, “An agreement has been reached and Bainsla has called off the agitation.”
According to Bainsla’s close aide Roop Singh, the state-wide agitation has been fully called off. “The government has guaranteed us reservation and the agitation will end today. We can all finally get some sleep,” Singh said. He added that the government would give Gurjjars, Rebaris, Gadia Luhars and Banjaras quota in the state in such a way that it could not be held up in court.
“There is 49 per cent reservation in Rajasthan presently. So the government has decided to give the four communities 1 per cent quota for now and additional 4 per cent soon based on something like the Maharastra model of reservation, which is also above 50 per cent,” Singh said. He added that the Gurjjars would be allowed to take advantage of a year-long backlog in reservation as well.
Meanwhile, a jubilant Gehlot, while thanking Bainsla and leaders of other communities, took pot shots at his predecessor Vasundhara Raje stating that the Congress had handled the 2010 Gurjjar agitation without any bloodshed. “Because of the mismanagement during the previous BJP government more than 70 Gurjjars were killed, but this time, there was hardly any violence,” Gehlot said. He added that the government would leave no stone unturned in ensuring reservation for the four communities.
—-agencies