A day after the Opposition BJP released the first list of its candidates for the Rajasthan Assembly election, protests emerged on Tuesday in Tonk district’s Deoli-Uniara constituency against Gujjar leader Vijay Bainsla being fielded for the polls. The BJP workers in the region described him as a “parachute candidate”.
Mr. Bainsla is the son of Gujjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti leader, the late Kirori Singh Bainsla, who had played an instrumental role in getting the Most Backward Class (MBC) status for the community. Mr. Bainsla, who left his corporate sector job, has been agitating for appointments to the reserved backlog posts and other facilities for Gujjars, besides organising the community’s yatras.
Congress leader Harish Chandra Meena won the Deoli-Uniara seat in the 2018 Assembly election and defeated BJP’s Rajendra Gujjar. Former MLAs Mr. Gujjar and Rajkumar Meena led a protest against giving a ticket to Mr. Bainsla, saying he was an outsider and had no connection with the constituency.
