Rajputs to be accorded back general status, as per demand, says Punjab CM Channi

The news the Rajputs were to be given general status was made in Jalandhar, where the Punjab CM Channi had gone to launch development projects; the Rajput community had welcomed the decision

Jalandhar Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi announced on Monday that the Rajput community, 15-lakh strong, will be made part of the general category again, from the backward class that they were turned into by the previous SAD-BJP regime in 2016. Channi was in Adampur in the district to lay foundation stones of development projects worth around ₹158 crore; the announcement regarding the Rajputs was made while addressing a gathering at a private resort. Punjab’s Rajputs have, several times in the past, said that they don’t want to be considered backward.

The Rajput community had wanted the status, as they did not like being classified a backward class, as the previous SAD-BJP regime had done, said Punjab CM Channi, while making the announcement (HT Photo)

“A delegation of Rajputs (Kshatriyas) had met me and demanded that they be reverted to their status of general category. Punjab assembly speaker Rana KP Singh had also requested the same,” he said, adding that the notification on the issue would be issued soon.

“The previous SAD-BJP regime accorded our community with the backward class tag, even as we did not seek it. We are a martial class and of our 15 lakh population in state (10 lakh Hindu and 5 lakh Sikh Rajputs) is settled from Lalru (SAS Nagar) to Pathankot district and plains of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur districts,” Rana KP Singh, MLA from Anandpur Sahib, told HT over phone.

In an attempt to woo Scheduled Castes (SCs) too, Channi announced that criminal cases against members of the community, who are accused of violence that broke out in the Austrian city of Vienna after the assassination of Ravidassia sect preacher Sant Rama Nand in 2009 would also be withdrawn. In September this year, however, an additional and district sessions court had turned down the withdrawal plea when Capt Amarinder was the CM.

Taking on the SAD, the CM said, “The Akalis have now aligned with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BJP), but the BSP is just a pawn on their political chessboard. In 1996 too, the SAD-BSP were in alliance; the very next year, the SAD ditched the BSP.”

“After getting a taste of their own medicine from the BJP, the Akalis have again joined hands with the BSP; but have given them seats like Hoshiarpur and Pathankot, where the Akalis themselves have never won. Secretly, the SAD is still hand in glove with the BJP,” Channi claimed.

The CM added that the road leading to the Adampur airport would be named after Guru Ravidass, and a proposal to name the airport after Guru Ravidass would be sent to the Centre. On former MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee’s demand on subdivision status to Adampur, Channi said a survey would be launched to study viability.