By IANS
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday appealed for peace in Rajasthan where Gujjars' agitation for Scheduled Tribe status has claimed at least 25 lives since Tuesday even as senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders met to resolve the political crisis.
An uneasy calm prevailed in the state as the impasse continued after three rounds of talks between the Vasundhara Raje government and the Gujjar leaders, while the two sides met for the fourth round of parleys Saturday afternoon.
Over the last few days, property and vehicles have been vandalised across the state and a strike call by protesters has shut several towns. As a result, bus and train services though the state have been disrupted, with protesters uprooting rail tracks in many places.
Following an emergency meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha L.K. Advani, the prime minister appealed to all sections of society to maintain calm and not further aggravate violence.
Advani's meeting with Manmohan Singh comes after a series of consultations among the top BJP leadership in an attempt to defuse the tension in the party-ruled state following the Gujjars' demand, which has been opposed by the dominant Meena community.
"The events of the past few days in parts of Rajasthan have caused a great deal of pain and distress to large numbers of people. Sadly, many lives have been lost, plunging their families into grief," Manmohan Singh said.
"I appeal to all the people of Rajasthan and also those in neighbouring states to maintain peace and calm. I appeal to all sections of society to desist from actions which may lead to further violence and distress and which will disrupt the lives of ordinary citizens," he said in a statement.
In a day of frantic political activity, leaders of the BJP core committee met at the residence of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to discuss the crisis in Rajasthan and its violent fallout that has taken a massive toll in the state and beyond its borders.
They directed Chief Minister Raje to personally participate in the fourth round of talks, held Saturday afternoon, in a bid to resolve the issue.
Emerging from the meeting, Rajnath Singh said: "I have spoken to Vasundhraji. She said she is making all efforts to restore peace and normalcy in the state."
A senior BJP leader told IANS: "Raje seems to be caught in a Catch-22 situation as appeasing the Gujjars will upset the Meenas who are stoutly opposed to their demand to be included in an affirmative action plan which will give them access to government jobs and other benefits."
The home ministry issued a circular to Rajasthan as well as its bordering states to maintain vigil and keep the situation under control.
The protests that originated May 29 in Rajasthan have spilled onto Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi.
Though no major violent incident was reported from any part of the state since Friday evening, sporadic street protests continued in and around Delhi with angry Gujjars taking to the streets and holding up rail and road traffic in support of their kinsmen in Rajasthan.
It was the fourth straight day of demonstrations here, and the trouble spread to the interior from the suburbs when members of the community came out of their homes in Ashram area in south Delhi.
Thousands of Gujjars blocked roads and took out rallies also at Keshavpur area in the city's northwest and Bhajanpura in the northeast.
They burnt effigies of Vasundhara Raje and tyres on the roads, hitting vehicular traffic.
But police quickly moved in and brought the situation under control.
Even at Dadri and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, adjoining east Delhi, violent mobs damaged railway tracks, severely affecting the rail traffic.
"Twenty-seven trains on the Delhi-Kanpur route have been affected," Vagesh Pandey, a railway spokesman, said. "We are working on alternative routes to restore the affected train services."