Rupala les nomination papers, appeals to Rajputs to back BJP
Even as Union Minister urges community to ‘show a large heart’, a coordination committee of protesters calls demand for his removal as Rajkot candidate ‘non-negotiable’, threatens to escalate stir and boycott party if it doesn’t act soon
mid protests by Rajputs over his controversial remarks, Union Minister Parshottam Rupala led his nomination papers on Tuesday as the BJP candidate from Rajkot parliamentary constituency. He was accompanied by several leaders including Kesridevsinh Jhala, BJP Rajya Sabha member and member of erstwhile princely family of Wankaner.
Rajkot goes to the polls in the third phase along with the rest of Gujarat on May 7, and Mr. Rupala is pitted against Paresh Dhanani of the Congress, a former Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly who had defeated the Union Minister in the 2002 State polls. Both are Patidars, Mr. Rupala a Kadva Patidar and his opponent a Leuva Patidar.
Before ling the papers, Mr. Rupala addressed a large gathering in which he yet again urged the Rajput
Acommunity members to “show a large heart and support the BJP”.
The Patidar leader has already apologised twice for comments made during an election campaign speech in Rajkot on March 22, but it has not cut ice with the Kshatriyas or descendants of the formerly ruling families who are demanding his removal as the party candidate.
Immediately after Mr. Rupala led his nomination, P.T. Jadeja, a key player in organising the protests, stressed that the Union Minister “had no backing of the Rajput or Kshatriya community”.
Show of strength
After a massive show of strength by the Rajputs in which over one lakh people were present in a congregation in Rajkot on Sunday, the top BJP leadership, despite rejecting the demand for candidate change, have intensied efforts to resolve the crisis.
A meeting between the Rajput community leaders who are coordinating with more than 75 di£erent castes groups and Gujarat BJP leaders at the Chief Minister’s residence on Monday night stretched till 3 a.m. but failed to break the impasse.
“We have again conveyed our demand for Parshottam Rupala’s removal. This demand is non-negotiable,” said Karansinh Chavda, a core committee member from the Rajputs.
Party sources said another round of meetings is likely in the next couple of days.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be launching his campaign for Gujarat from April 22 from Rajkot and the party wants to resolve this issue before that,” a BJP source said.
On Tuesday, the coordination committee of Rajputs announced their next round of protests across the State. “We will now go for boycott of BJP if Rupala is not removed by April 19. The Kshatriya or Rajputs will hold protest against BJP in every village of the State,” it said in a release.
Opponent’s campaign
Meanwhile, Mr. Dhanani launched his campaign on Tuesday by visiting Patidar community temples and meeting a group of women from the Rajput community.
“I have shifted from Amreli to Rajkot to teach a lesson to the arrogant Rupala, who has insulted the mothers, sisters and daughters of Rajputs,” he said after meeting the women.
The Rupala controversy has put BJP on the back foot in several States, with Rajput groups in Rajasthan and U.P., among others, protesting against the party and its candidate.
BJP’s Bhavnagar candidate Nimuben Bambhania was greeted with anti-Rupala slogans by around 150 members of the Kshatriya community during a meeting before she led her nomination papers.