AHMEDABAD: The remarks by Union minister and BJP’s Rajkot candidate Purushottam Rupala on Rajput community have triggered a controversy. Rajput organisations called a meeting in Ahmedabad on Thursday and demanded that Rupala be changed as the BJP candidate.
They threatened to stage protests across Gujarat and vote against the BJP in Lok Sabha polls if their demand is not met. “I appeal to people of the community not to make a co promise. The compromise in this issue will be made on a single point: Rupala Bhai’s ticket should be cancelled,” said Padmani Ba Vala, president of the women’s front of Gujarat Karni Sena, in an audio message. The Rajkot row was the latest to rile the BJP when the party is grappling with dissent in Vadodara, Sabarkantha, Surendranagar and Valsad seats.
Aditya Singh Gohil, a Rajput leader from the Congress, filed a suit in Rajkot court against Rupala. “Purushottam Rupala’s statement against the Kshatriya community is not acceptable, so I filed a complaint in the court,” said Gohil. “The court has asked me to appear on April 15 along with witnesses.”
Addressing a gathering in Rajkot on March 22, Rupala said, among other things, that former maharajas had yielded to the oppression of foreign rulers, including the British.