Gurjars conclude 'successful' talks with Rajasthan govt

Jaipur: Breaking a 26-day-old violent standoff, the Rajasthan government and the agitating Gurjars concluded "successful talks" late on Tuesday evening on the community's demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribe category. An agreement between the two sides will be signed on Wednesday morning.

Addressing a press conference after the talks, Ramdas Agarwal, BJP leader who headed the government delegation, said, "I am happy to state that normalcy will return very soon in the state. Both the sides are satisfied with the talks, which have been successful. An agreement will be signed on Wednesday, which will be made public."

He said the agreement had been reached "keeping in mind the interest of five crore people of Rajasthan".

Gurjar leader Colonel KS Bainsla described the talks as "historic". "I thank Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Ramdas Agarwal for working out an amicable solution."

Both the leaders, however, refused to divulge details of the agreement reached.

Ramvir Singh Vidhuri, a Gurjar leader, told the media, "The agitation will be called off on Wednesday after we receive the agreement." He also termed the talks as "very successful" and said that "no tampering" had been done with the Other Backward Classes or the present Scheduled Tribe list.

"You will come to know about it in the morning," he said.

In Rajasthan, the total percentage of reservation – for OBC, Scheduled Caste and Tribes is at 49 per cent already.

The Gurjars are classified among the OBCs in Rajasthan but they want ST status that would give them a bigger share of the jobs and education quota pie. They have been agitating since May 23.

Meanwhile, Bainsla's supporters continued their agitation at Bayana in Bharatpur district, 160 km from Jaipur, laying siege on the railway track linking Mumbai with Delhi. Army and paramilitary deployment also continued there to check against any untoward incident.

As many as 39 people were killed when the agitation turned violent last month.

Last year, Gurjars held protests all over Rajasthan from May 29 to June 4 to press the same demand. At least 26 people were killed in the violence then.