Mahapanchayat of Rajput community in Kheda village under Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha constituency of Uttar Pradesh protested against non-implementation of government schemes, increase in unemployment, Agni Veer Yojana and ‘insult’ of Rajput community by BJP Boycott of the announced candidates.
Rajput Mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar. (Image credit: X/@dheersen)
New Delhi: Mahapanchayat of Rajput community in Kheda village under Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha constituency of Uttar Pradesh protested against the BJ, citing non-implementation of government schemes, increase in unemployment, Agni Veer Yojana and insulting Rajput community PK announced boycott of the candidates.
According to an Indian Express report, community leaders said the boycott call would not apply to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, whom the community said was their voice, claiming that the central BJP leadership did not speak to them.
During a mahapanchayat organized by ‘Chubisi’, a group of 24 villages under Rajput-Sewal Khas (Baghpat), Sardhana (Meerut) and Khatoli (Muzaffarnagar) assembly constituencies, community leaders nominated the SP candidate in Muzaffarnagar to lend their support to Harinder Malik.
As for the other Lok Sabha seats in the constituency, he said he would vote for the candidate who would be in a position to defeat the BJP. Referring to two former prime ministers from the Rajput community – VP Singh and Chandrashekhar – the leaders asked why they have not received the Bharat Ratna yet.
The Mahapanchayat also repeatedly referred to a similar panchayat held on the same ground in 2013 in connection with the Muzaffarnagar riots, which, according to some Rajput leaders, ‘laid the foundation for the rise of the BJP in the state’. “After 10 years, this place and this panchayat area will be the reason for the downfall of the BJP,” he added.
“Thakur is following CM Adityanath,” said Deepak Som, Muzaffarnagar district president of the Kisan Mazdoor organization, one of the organizers of the Mahapanchayat.
“They (BJP leadership) are not listening to Yogiji,” Deepak said while addressing a crowd on the mainland of Meerut’s Kheda Inter College. Jutkits are being distributed, does Baba (Adityanath) have any stake in them? No need to explain (to the community) if Baba works. The people sitting in Delhi complete the candidates and their decision is forced on (Defence Minister) Rajnath Singh and Yogi Maharaj to go and convince ‘the people.’
A large poster on the stage read ‘Swabhiman Mahapanchayat’. On one side of the poster, ‘Kanwal Ka Phool Hamari Bhol’ was written in a circular circle and on the other side, the BJP’s election symbol was crossed with an ‘X’ written on it.
Som said, ‘Maharajji (Adityanath) also came to Sardhana (Muzaffarnagar). He has said only one thing that ‘a Kshatriya never compromises with self-respect.’ So, through this panchayat, we want to assure Maharajji that we will not compromise on self-respect at all. If the burning flame of protest is not turned into votes, we will not be able to show our face. This is the same Chobisi (24 villages) from where he (current BJP MP Sanjiv Balyan) used to get votes, this time he will lose everywhere.’
It should be clear that Sanjeev Balyan is the BJP candidate for the Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seat.
This is the second Mahapanchayat after Nanuta in Saharanpur, where Thakur leaders have expressed their anger against the central government for ticket distribution, representation and non-implementation of schemes.
Kisan Mazdoor Sangha president Puran Singh said that no one “can get votes by intimidation from Rashtriya Vidyalaya, Pakistan or China”. He said, ‘We have captured the appeal of Ashomedh Modi’s horse ‘400 Par’. Now we will leave it only after the fight (elections).’
Puran Singh added, ‘Not only Rajputs, all the 36 castes are with us. Nobody can win votes by scaring us with nationalism, Pakistan or China. Our forefathers fought on the borders, our brothers are fighting, there is no BJP MP or any member of his family fighting there.’
Another panchayat speaker, Ajay Som, alleged that Balyan had disturbed the Rajput community.
Ajay Som said, ‘Some people teach us nationalism, but they practice casteism. We stayed behind and these guys moved on. Leaders count their work for ABAs but forget that 27% was allocated by VP Singh. Why was he not awarded the Bharat Ratna?’
He said that Muslim Rajputs were also with them.
People from Kairana and Saharanpur Lok Sabha seats also participated in the Maha Panchayat. Other organizations like Kshatriya Sabha, Karni Sena Bharat and Bharatiya Kisan Union (BHANU) also participated in the meeting.
23-year-old Ajay, who lives in Kheda village, seemed upset that he got a chance to appear for the UP police recruitment exam for the first time in five years, but the paper was leaked.
Ajay has now joined the family dairy business. He said, ‘The BJP is making people fight against each other by doing caste politics. So it was decided that the person running such a dictatorial government should be overthrown. Ten years ago, there was a split in the panchayat held on the same land. Today we are moving forward taking all castes and religions together. Today we are one.’
Babli Sharma, 40, who participated in the Mahapanchayat, said, ‘There was a panchayat in 2013 that helped the BJP to move forward and form the government. But later he ignored the upper castes. There is no job and no work is done here. People are against Agni Veer Yojana. Now this country will be the downfall of the BJP. Yogiji is not allowed to speak.’
