On the call of Col Kirori Singh Bainsla, the Gurjar community is again up in arms, demanding five per cent reservation. The decision to resume the agitation was taken at the mahapanchayat at Malarna dungar at Dev Naraya temple on Friday evening.
Soon, the Gurjars started fanning out and started occupying railway tracks. At some places , there were reports of protesters trying to uproot the tracks.
The agitation has disrupted the rail traffic on Delhi-Mumbai railway track at Malarna Nmoda block. Railways has therefore diverted three trains namely Avadh Express, Garib Rath running between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Bandra terminus and Ananya Express between Kolkata and Udaipur. Railways has been constantly monitoring the situation after the agitation began and has also short terminated four trains. These include Jan Shatabdi Express train number 12060 running between Delhi and Kota at Gangapur city.
Speaking to media after the mahapanchayat, Col Bainsla, who has been spearheading the agitation, said that he has appealed to the community to block all the highways as the time for agitation had come.
“Maine samaj se apeeal kee hai ke aar paar ke ladali ka waqt aa gaya hai, jitne bhi highways hai sabko jaam karo,” he told media on Thursday evening.
The Gurjars had given a 20-day ultimatum to the state government to give them reservation of 5 % after the union government had given 10% reservation to the economically weaker section recently. This 20-day ultimatum ended on Thursday. Sources said that 17 companies of Rajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC) have been deployed for maintaining law and order.
Gurjars has been demanding five per cent reservation for Gujjars, Raika-Rebari, Gadia Luhar, Banjara and Gadaria communities in state jobs and admission in educational institutions in their almost 10 years old agitation.
They are presently getting one per cent reservation under the legal limit of 50 per cent under the most backward category in addition to the reservation for Other Backward Classes. Before the assembly elections, the Gujars had pressed for their demand of reservation and had also declared to oppose the political yatra of the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje.