Gujjar faction wants May-19 agreement with govt scrapped, threatens agitation from Aug 1

Days after the Rajasthan government signed an agreement with a Gujjar group led by Kirori Singh Bainsla, a rival faction demanded the pact be annulled and also threatened to launch a countrywide agitation from August 1, if the government fails to provide five per cent reservation to the community.

On May 19, the government had signed a 16-point agreement with Bainsla's Gujjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti after which it postponed its proposed agitation from May 23.

Today, however, a rival Gujjar faction, All India Gujjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti led by Ramveer Singh Bidhuri, demanded that the state government cancel the May-19 agreement and implement the ones reached in 2013 and 2015.

Bidhuri said a countrywide agitation would be launched starting August 1 if the previous agreements are not implemented.

The May 19 agreement has put an end to the state government's commitment to provide five per cent reservation within the 50 per cent limit prescribed by the Supreme Court and its agreement to include the quota in the ninth schedule of the Constitution," Bidhuri claimed.

"The government should annul the May 19 agreement immediately, he told a press conference here.

If the government falters on its past promises, a massive nationwide agitation will be launched starting August 1, he said.

Bidhuri claimed the Rajasthan government in 2008 and 2015 had specifically said it will provide Rs 500 crore annually to the Devnarayan Trust for the development of Gujjar dominated villages, but it has not been happening.

A 51-member committee of Gujjars and other communities has been constituted, which will raise awareness among the youths about the fallouts of May 19 agreement and will strategise on starting the agitation in August, he said.