On the other hand, Jawahar Bedham, Minister of State for Home in the Bhajanlal government, says, “When the government is ready to put things on the table, then why a Mahapanchayat?”

With the Gurjars protesting, for people who intend to go from Karauli to Bharatpur, the traffic has been diverted via Hindaun-Kalsada-Bhusawar instead of the Bayana-Hindaun State Highway.

On the other hand, Minister Jawahar Singh Bedham said, “Some people are adamant that we will stay and speak against the government. In a democracy, everyone has the right to express their views.  When the government is ready to talk at the table without any Mahapanchayat and agitation, then why are they holding the Mahapanchayat?”

The district administration is alert about the Mahapanchayat going on in Pilupura. Many RAC companies have been set up.

The Gurjars say that the government is still not implementing the Devnarayan scheme. The Mahapanchayat is being held to demand inclusion of MBC reservation in the Ninth Schedule, withdrawal of cases filed during earlier Gurjar agitations, implementation of the agreement between the Gurjar Reservation Committee and the settlement of matters related to backlog and jobs.

It remains to be seen what direction the movement will take and what decision the society takes after the Maha Panchayat. Will Gujjars move towards the tracks? It all depends on the government’s stance.

Kirori Singh Bainsla was the face of Gurjar quota agitation in Rajasthan. In 2007 and 2008, the Gurjar leader Bainsla led the quota agitation for the Gurjar community.

Following a prolonged violent agitation, the state government provided five per cent reservation to Gurjars and four other nomadic communities –Banjara, Gadia-Lohar, Raika and Gadariya– in jobs and education by creating an MBC category for them.

Notably, this is the first movement of the community after four years following the death of the prominent leader of the Gujjar community and Vijay Bainsala’s father, Colonel Kirori Lal Bainsala.

This movement will also decide the political future of Vijay Bainsala, who lost the last election on a BJP ticket from a Gujjar-dominated seat. To make inroads into the community and establish his leadership remains a big challenge for him.