PILOT FACES TURBULENCE

The occasion was sombre, yet politically significant. Members of the Gujjar community had reached Pushkar, about 150 kilometres west of Jaipur, on September 12, to take part in a mass meeting and pay tributes to Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla, the man who gained a manner of iconic status after leading the agitation to demand special reservation for the community in Rajasthan.

- Rohit Parihar

But what was expected to be a show of strength for Gujjars-who can influence election results in at least a dozen eastern seats of the 200-member assembly-was marred by ugly scenes. Two cabinet ministers belonging to the community were heckled by the crowd. Shoes flew in the air, as did imprecations. The fissures that lay revealed centre upon the figure of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, almost an undisputed leader of the Gujjars in Rajasthan. The community, of course, has rarely had a sole leader, until Bainsla, a retired army officer, took it upon himself to unite them about a decade and a half ago for the special status agitation. But even he had failed to translate that into political benefits. Fighting on a BJP ticket in 2009, he lost the Lok Sabha election by a whisker.