Rajputs vow not to vote for BJP
ANANDPAL ENCOUNTER Community has threatened to boycott party in 2018 polls; 50,000 gather to show support
Thousands of Rajputs who gathered at Saanvrad village in Nagaur district on Wednesday vowed to not vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2018 assembly elections. They converged at the village in a show of strength to demand CBI inquiry into the encounter of gangster Anandpal Singh.
Anandpal was killed in the encounter on June 24 in Churu district.
Karni Sena’s patron Lokendra Singh Kalvi, who spearheaded the Hunkar rally, said that the community will not settle for anything less than a CBI inquiry.
Earlier, former MLA Ranvir Gudha and Karni Sena president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedhi proposed that the Rajputs take a vow against voting for BJP. Around 50,000 people from different parts of the state raised their hand in support.
Rajputs began pouring in to the from the morning on Wednesday. Police set up 32 check posts on all the roads leading to Saanvrad to verify details of all those going to the village.
“We deployed 2,500 police personnel, including staff from the Rajasthan Armed Constabulary, the emergency response team and special task force to maintain law and order in view of large number of people expected in the village,” said ADG (law and order) NRK Reddy. He said riot control vehicles were also deployed.
Ajmer range inspector general of police Malini Agarwal said 20 additional and deputy SPs, 40 inspectors and more than 80 subinspectors were deployed to monitor the situation.
Talks between the Rajput leaders and administration continued until late on Wednesday evening. The state government sent top police officer Ajit Singh Shekhawat, who is director general of jails, to mediate in the talks.
Reddy said by 6 pm, more than 6,000 people had left the village. He said there was a minor stone pelting in the village in which window panes of two police vehicles were damaged. However, the rally was largely peaceful, he added.
The district administration imposed prohibitory orders in the district and suspended internet services from 5 pm on July 11 to midnight of Wednesday.