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Ahmedabad: The Gujarat police on Tuesday detained Kshatriya community leader Raj Shekhawat soon after he landed at Ahmedabad airport to lead a protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at its state headquarters in Gandhinagar, police said.
“We have detained Raj Shekhawat from the airport,” Assistant Commissioner of Police (G Division) VN Yadav said, according to news agency PTI. A second police officer said Shekhawat was taken into custody by Ahmedabad cybercrime officials in connection with recent threats by some Rajput women to immolate themselves.
There was tension in Ahmedabad on April 6 after Kshatriya community members protested on the streets against Rupala. Five women who threatened self-immolation the same day were placed under house arrest before they could reach the BJP’s headquarters in Gandhinagar.
In a post on X on Sunday, Shekhawat declared that he planned to gherao the state BJP headquarters, ‘Kamalam’ at 2 pm on Tuesday and asked the Kshatriya community members and their supporters to come with saffron flags and sticks and join the protest.
Shekhawat, convenor of Kshatriya Karni Sena Parivar, a Kshatriya or Rajput community outfit, has been sharply critical of Union minister Parshottam Rupala over his controversial remarks that several Rajput rulers collaborated with the British. Rupala, the BJP candidate from Rajkot Lok Sabha constituency, claimed at an event on March 22 that former ‘maharajas’ yielded to the oppression of foreign rulers including the British, and that they dined with and even married off their daughters to these rulers.
Rupala apologised after strong reactions from several community members but the demands to replace him have continued from sections of the community.
On March 30, Shekhawat said he was resigning from the BJP after it refused to replace Rupala as the Rajkot candidate.
Gujarat BJP officials also claimed that Shekhawat was never a member of the BJP and have asked people to put the incident behind them. On April 2, Gujarat BJP president CR Patil said: “It is my humble appeal to the Kshatriya samaj with folded hands that mistake has been committed and apology has been tendered thrice. Now, it is time for the Kshatriya samaj to temper their anger and continue their support for the BJP, as they have consistently shown their support to the party in all past elections,”
Many Kshatriya community leaders including Shekhawat have rejected the appeal. On Saturday, several community outfits held a joint meeting and declared they would field 400 Kshatriya candidates against Rupala in the Lok Sabha elections. Rajkot votes on May 7.
The Patidar community has sought to rally around the Rupala, a Patidar, and put up posters in Rajkot pledging their support for him. But these were removed by poll officials on April 5 citing violations of the model code of conduct.
Many villages in Narmada, Chhota Udepur, and Bharuch, predominantly inhabited by the Kshatriya community, display banners prohibiting the entry of BJP leaders for campaigning until the party retracts Rupala’s nomination.
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