No breakthrough in Gujjar talks

A crucial round of dialogue between the Rajasthan government and Gujjar leader, Col K.S. Bainsala on Monday ended inconclusively. The final round would be held on Tuesday.

Briefing the media Colonel K.S. Bainsala and the leader of the government delegation, BJP MP Ram Das Agarwal, said the talks were cordial and all issues would be thrashed out on Tuesday, when Vasundhara Raje leads the government delegation.

They said, “The final round will be decisive and the outcome will be positive. We can not tell you details of the proposals.” Highly-placed sources said the Rajasthan government was not in a position to accept the Gujjar plea for ST status.

Sources said the government has put forth a proposal of providing 1% reservation (presently 49 %) and deduct 1.4 % (on the basis of Gujjar population) from the OBC quota of 21% which adds up to 2.4 percent. The government can recommend this proposal to the centre, sources said.

Another proposal is to give 4 to 6 percent reservation in state government jobs to nomadic Gujjar tribes, which will not touch the ST quota.

Two rounds of dialogue between the Gujjar delegation and the government were also held at Jaipur on Friday and Saturday, which did not yield any tangible result.

SC rejects plea on MLAs

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition seeking disqualification of 18 Rajasthan MLAs for allegedly violating their oath of office by adopting a partisan stance on the ongoing Gujjar strike.

A vacation Bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and G.S. Singhvi said the petitioner Kashi Purohit can seek alternative remedy with an appropriate court.

According to the petitioner, the MLAs belonging to the Congress, BJP and BSP were indulging in “competitive politics by either supporting or opposing the Gujjar stir and making inflammatory speeches”.

The Gujjars are demanding ST status for the community.