By IANS,
New Delhi : The ongoing Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan Saturday forced the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to shift its top leaders’ meeting from Jaipur to the national capital.
The three-day national executive meeting, scheduled to be held from May 31 in the poll bound Rajasthan’s capital city of Jaipur, will now be held in New Delhi June 1-2.
This is the second time the party had to change venue for its meeting from Jaipur. Last year, the party had to shift its meet after the agitation by the Gujjar community demanding Scheduled Tribes status turned violent, leading to the killing of at least 26 people.
The fresh violence, which broke out Friday, has claimed 13 lives.
The Gujjars, an ethnic group who rear livestock and earn a living by selling milk and other dairy products, are demanding that the community be included in the Scheduled Tribes list so that it gets better education and job opportunities.
The army was called in to assist the district administration in maintaining law and order in Bayana, about 170 km from Jaipur, after Friday’s violent clashes between the agitators and the police.