Tonk (Rajasthan):
If reservation is a balm, the BJP has given the Gujjars enough of it, so much so that their leader Kirori Bainsla is now fighting on the saffron party ticket.
"Every wound needs a balm. The balm has been provided by the BJP government to the Gujjars in the form of a five per cent reservation under the economically-backward class category. It substantiates a part of what we were fighting for," Bainsla said at an election campaign.
But as it happens, most wounds leave scars behind. And, for this Gujjar leader, a possible rejection by the Meena community may just be the off-shoot of the agitations he had led and the subsequent grant of reservation.
Bainsla, too, is not sure if the Meenas would vote for him because of "misunderstandings between the communities".
"No. I don't know if Meena's would vote for me and for the BJP. There have been certain misunderstandings," the BJP contender from the Sawai Madhopur-Tonk Lok Sabha seat said.
More than 70 people lost their lives in the agitations by the Gujjars, who were seeking an ST status for themselves.
Though the state BJP government just granted five per cent reservation under the economically backward class category instead of the ST status, it did not go down well with the Meenas, who were earlier enjoying the reservation benefits.
Nevertheless, Bainsla wants to reach out to the Meenas.
"But I believe they (the Meena community) should (vote for me). They have been garlanding me during my campaign," the 70-year-old retired Colonel said.