Gujjar leader Bainsla joins BJP

Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla, who had led a violent agitation demanding Scheduled Tribe status for the community, joined the BJP party on Saturday saying he needs a “political voice to bring justice to his community”.

Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla, who had led a violent agitation demanding Scheduled Tribe status for the community, joined the BJP party on Saturday.

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Bainsla, who spearheaded the movement last year during the BJP rule in the state, announced his joining the saffron party saying he needs a “political voice to bring justice to his community”.

He said the issue of Gujjar reservation was not brought up in parliament after three consecutive spells of agitation by Gujjars in Rajasthan and he decided to join BJP in order to voice the demand of the community in parliament.

Bainsla, however, did not specify whether he would contest the coming Lok Sabha elections but said his mission was to voice the demand of Gujjars in parliament.

BJP President Om Mathur said Bainsla’s joining the party was a “step towards social engineering”.

He said there was a need of bridging the gap between the two communities--Meena and Gujjar. Meena community, which is already in ST list, is opposed to inclusion of Gujjar also in the same category.