By IANS,
Jaipur : Kirori Singh Bainsla, who spearheaded the Gujjar community’s violent agitation over the last two years for being granted Scheduled Tribe status, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here Saturday.
Bainsla arrived in this Rajasthan capital in the afternoon and went to the BJP’s state office where he took formal membership of the party. He said he would work as a disciplined soldier of the party.
“I wanted a political voice to bring justice to my community,” he said, adding that he would work towards raising community issues, including the classification of Gujjars as tribals.
Gujjars, currently belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), had staged violent and bloody protests all over Rajasthan in 2007-08 demanding their inclusion in the Scheduled Tribe category that would give them better employment and educational opportunities.
Bainsla, however, did not disclose his plans on fighting the Lok Sabha polls.
Rajasthan, which has 25 seats, goes to the polls May 7.
With the Gujjar leader joining the party, speculation is rife that Bainsla would contest the polls either from Jaipur Rural or Tonk-Swawi Madhopur, the two constituencies with a large number of Gujjar voters.
The Congress has fielded Divya Singh of the erstwhile royal family of Bharatpur for Jaipur Rural and central minister Namonarain Meena from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur.