A mahapanchayat of the Rajput community held in Kheda village under the Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday declared its decision to “boycott BJP candidates” in the first phase of general elections in Uttar Pradesh in protest against “non-implementation of government schemes, rise in unemployment, Agniveer Scheme and insult of the Rajput Samaj”.
The boycott call, however, did not apply to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who, the community leaders, said was their voice which was “not being heard by central BJP leadership”.
During the mahapanchayat, which was organised by “chaubisi” — a conglomerate of 24 villages falling under Siwal Khas (Baghpat), Sardhana (Meerut) and Khatauli (Muzaffarnagar) Assembly seats symbolising Rajput power — community leaders “pledged their support” for SP candidate Harendra Malik in Muzaffarnagar. In other Lok Sabha seats in the region, they said “they will vote for the candidate who is in a position to defeat the BJP”. Referring to two former Prime Ministers — V P Singh and Chandra Shekhar from the Rajput community — the leaders asked why they have not been given Bharat Ratna yet.
The mahapanchayat also saw repeated mention of a similar panchayat held on the same ground in 2013 in relation to the Muzaffarnagar riots, which, according to some Rajput leaders, “formed the basis of the BJP’s rise in the state”. They went on to say that “after 10 years, this panchayat will become the reason for the BJP’s downfall in the region”.
Deepak Som, Muzaffarnagar district president of Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan, one of the organisers of mahapanchayat, said the “Thakurs are following CM Adityanath”.
“They (BJP leadership) don’t listen to Yogi-ji. Does Baba (Adityanath) have any say in the tickets that have been distributed? If Baba had his way, there would be no need to convince (the community). People sitting in Delhi finalise the candidates and their decision is imposed on (Defence Minister) Rajnath Singh and Yogi Maharaj to go and convince the public,” said Deepak, while addressing the crowd in a big ground of Kheda Inter College in Meerut. A big poster put up the stage read ‘Swabhiman Mahapanchayat’; on one side of the poster “kamal ka phool hamari bhool (BJP symbol lotus was out mistake)” was written in a circle and on the other side, the BJP’s election symbol was crossed with an ‘X’.
“Maharaj-ji (Adityanath) had also come to Sardhana (in Muzaffarnagar). He has said only one thing that a ‘Kshatriya never compromises with self-respect’. So through this panchayat, we also want to assure Maharaj-ji that we will not compromise with self-respect at all. If this flame of protest that is burning is not converted into votes, then we will not be able to show our faces. This is the same Chaubisi (24 villages) from where he (sitting BJP MP Sanjeev Balyan) used to get votes, this time he will lose from everywhere,” said Som as the public responded with ‘Jai Rajputana, Jai Bhavani’ chants. Balyan is the BJP candidate from the Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seat.
This is the second mahapanchayat after Saharanpur’s Nanauta, where Thakur leaders expressed anger over ticket distribution, representation and non-implementation of schemes.
Pooran Singh, the president of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan, said no one can take votes by “scaring them with nationalism, Pakistan or China”. “We have caught the horse of Modi’s Ashwamedha — the call for ‘400 paar’. Now we will release it only after the fight (election). Not just Rajputs, all the 36 castes are with us. No one can get votes by scaring us with nationalism, Pakistan or China. Our ancestors have fought on the borders, our brothers are fighting, no BJP MP or their family members fight there,” said Pooran.
Ajay Som, another speaker at the panchayat, alleged that Balyan has “harassed the Rajput community”.
“Some people were teaching us nationalism, but they started doing casteism. We lagged behind and these people moved ahead. Leaders count their work for the OBCs but forget that 27 per cent reservation was implemented by V P Singh. Why was he not given Bharat Ratna?” said Ajay Som, adding that the Muslim Rajputs are also with them.
The mahapanchayat also saw the attendance of people from Kairana and Saharanpur Lok Sabha seats. Other organisations such as Kshatriya Sabha, Karni Sena Bharat and Bhartiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) also took part in the meeting.
23-year-old Ajay, a resident of Kheda village, was angry because he got a chance to appear in the UP Police recruitment examination for the first time in five years, but the paper was leaked.
“BJP is making people fight among themselves by doing caste politics. Therefore, it has been decided that whoever runs such a dictatorial government should be uprooted. Ten years ago, the panchayat held on this very ground was a divisive one. Today, we are taking all caste and religion together. We are one today,” said Ajay, who now has joined the family’s dairy business.
“It was a panchayat in 2013 which helped the BJP rise and form the government. But later they ignored the upper castes. There are neither any jobs here nor any work is being done. People are against the Agniveer scheme. Now, this very land will become the reason for the BJP’s fall. Yogi-ji is not allowed to speak,” said Babli Sharma, a 40-year-old, who participated in the mahapanchayat.
