Gujjars and the Electoral Politics in Rajasthan

Abstract

The politics of the BJP has so far been a politics of mobilization whether at the state or at the central level in the truest sense, and one can realize that most often than not the basis of this mobilization is religious sentiments that appeal to the minds of the majority. The issues of the dalits or the so called “picchre barg’’ also come to agenda as a part of this mobilization politics if it is Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. The Gujjar movement in Rajasthan had brought to the fore an electoral promise of the BJP to include the Gujjars in the list of the ST of the state that helped the BJP to corner the Congress in order to get the support of the Gujjars as such. The issue was apparently simple. The Gujjar community of the Rajasthan wants ST status to have the benefit of the policy of what is sometimes called as affirmative action. But the move of the Gujjars has been opposed by the Meenas. The Gujjars and the Meenas are the two antagonistic groups in Rajasthan. The Meenas are also numerically significant in Rajasthan and play a deciding role in electoral politics. The movement of the Gujjars for the ST status has become a matter of concern for the Meenas as they are worried of losing their near-monopoly over the reserved seats for government jobs. Thus the demand for compensatory justice has led to a fear competitive claim that compels the Meenas to oppose it by all possible ways. The present paper examines how this has made the whole issue more complicated for all the political parties in that state and focuses on the nature of caste politics in Rajasthan that revolved around the demands of the Gujjars. At last under tremendous pressure government has been forced to make reservations for them as Special Backward Class.