All is not well in Rajasthan! Nine trains were cancelled; major railway tracks and highways were jammed in Bharatpur and neighboring areas. The Jats from Bharatpur and Dholpur allegedly blocked the rail lines and roads, demanding a piece of the ‘quota pie’. According to the news reports, all rail and road networks leading to Bharatpur were blocked due to Jat agitation stirred by Dholpur and Bharatpur communities.
Congress MLA Vishvedra Singh, the self-styled messiah of the Jats demanded reservation for his fellow community members. If Singh is to be believed, the Jats of Dholpur and Bharatpur region were demanding OBC reservation since August 2015. Nevertheless, Rajasthan government couldn’t grant their request due to legal concerns. The very same year, Rajasthan high court cancelled Jat reservations and ordered the state government to conduct a survey in villages and districts.
The main objective of the survey was to identify deserving Jat candidates on the basis of their socio-economic conditions so they could access benefits of government schemes. Two days back, the OBC commission submitted the survey report. Based on the report, Rajasthan government assured the Jats of fulfilling their demands. Nevertheless, in a bid to build up their vote banks for the upcoming Rajasthan assembly elections, the so-called Jat leaders whet Jat communities for mass protests.
Resultantly, the Jats from Dholpur and Bharatpur allegedly disrupted the tracks between Bandikui-Agra and Alwar-Mathura. Consequently, the North-western Railway authorities had to cancel/ divert various trains.
List of Trains that were Cancelled:
- Ajmer-Agra Fort,
- Agra Fort- Ajmer,
- Jaipur-Allahabad,
- Mathura-Alwar,
- Alwar-Mathura,
- Bandikui-Eidgarh,
- Eidgarh-Bandikui,
- Bandikui-Bareily,
- Agra Fort-Jaipur.
List of Trains that were Partially Cancelled/ Diverted to Alternative Routes:
- Jodhpur-Varanasi,
- Ajmer-Sealdah,
- Bareily-Bandikui,
- Mathura-Bhiwani,
- Allahabad-Jaipur.
Besides these, the state highways and roads leading to Nadbai, Bolkheda, Kaman, Khedli, Kumher, Bedham, Bandha, Deeg, Garoli and Vehaj were jammed by agitated protestors demanding reservation.
Before the furious protestors could cause any major damages, Rajasthan social justice and empowerment minister Mr. Arun Chaturvedi called in a meeting with Jat leaders. Chaturvedi hinted that the government was willing to provide reservations to the deserving Jat candidates under OBC quota.
Today, the government officials held a meeting with alleged Jat leaders. Following the meeting, the ministers decided to put forth their reservation demands in the Legislative Assembly. The government will try to fulfill their demands within the power of Indian constitution. Assured by this step, Jat communities withdrew protests and agreed to wait for government’s next step. Handling this issue in a mature manner, the government decided to provide benefits of reservation to the deserving candidates to avoid any clashes in future.
