Decode Politics: Why Parshottam Rupala’s Lok Sabha bid has hit firestorm over his Kshatriya remarks

The controversy

On March 23, a video went viral on social media showing Rupala speaking at a Dalit event in Rajkot on March 22, where he is purportedly heard saying: “Other also ruled us. So did the British and…they spared nothing to persecute (us). Even the kings bowed down. They (kings) broke bread with them (British) and married their daughters to them. But our Rukhi (Dalit) community neither changed their religion nor established such ties though they were persecuted the most.”

Various Kshatriya organisations, especially Kshatriya Karni Sena headed by Raj Shekhawat, reacted angrily, saying Rupala’s statement that Kshatriya rulers married their daughters with the British was wrong, with some protest groups also burning effigies of Rupala in various parts of the state. Rupala, who is currently a Rajya Sabha MP, belongs to the upper-caste Kadva Patidar community.

Leading the protests

Among the prominent Kshatriya faces of protests against Rupala are P T Jadeja, the Akhil Gujarat Rajput Yuva Sangh international president, Padminiba Vala, the president of Mahila Karni Sena, Gujarat, Raj Shekhawat, the Kshatriya Karni Sena chief, and J P Jadeja, the president of Karni Sena, Gujarat.

Shekhawat had faced criminal cases, including one for threatening then SP of Amreli, Nirlipt Rai, in 2021 after Amreli police arrested history-sheeter Ashok Boricha. He was subsequently arrested by police. In 2019, he was also booked for targeting Dalits in an inflammatory speech in Kutch. Shekhawat had joined the BJP ahead of the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections.

Vala, a resident of Rajkot, has joined the BJP recently. PT Jadeja and JP Jadeja are also the residents of Rajkot.

The protesters have been demanding that the BJP withdraw Rupala as its candidate. Shekhawat even “resigned” from the BJP in protest even though the BJP said he had never become its “registered member”.

Rupala’s apologies

As the row erupted, Rupala issued a video-statement, apologising for his comments. “My intention was to elaborate on the atrocities committed by vidharmis (those practising other faiths) against our culture and our country. It was not my intention in the least to show royal families or Kshatriya community in poor light, nor is it now or it will be in future. Nonetheless, if anyone’s feelings have been hurt due to my speech or its video, I say sorry and apologise sincerely. I am doing this not due to the election but because I respect the pride and glory of the Kshatriya community,” he said. But the protests raged on, forcing him to again tender an apology.

#WATCH | Rajkot, Gujarat: On his remarks against the Kshatriya community, Union Minister Parshottam Rupala says, “I am regretful for my words for the Kshatriya community. It is a record of my entire life that I never had to retract any comment of mine. But, I regretfully made… pic.twitter.com/lXXfHpW3wK

— ANI (@ANI) March 30, 2024

Damage control exercise

In a bid to quell the protests, Jayrajsinh Jadeja, former BJP MLA from Gondal Assembly constituency in Rajkot district and a Kshatriya leader, held a meeting at Gondal with some prominent Kshatriya leaders of Saurashtra, including Kesaridevsinh Jhala, scion of erstwhile royal family of Wankaner and BJP Rajya Sabha MP, Limbdi MLA Kiritsinh Rana, state BJP vice-president Mahendrasinh Sarvaiya and Rajkot deputy mayor Surendrasinh Vala. Towards the end of the meeting, Rupala also reached there to take part and again apologised.

“I am full of regret, beyond measure, that such words slipped out of my mouth. In my entire life, there is no record of me having retracted a comment after saying something. But it happened during the election and that too at an event that was unscheduled (for me). After winding up the day’s events, I had gone there to listen to Karshan Sagathiya’s bhajans. It was not an event meant for such utterances. Due to my remarks at that event, today, my party is suffering. There can be nothing more painful than that. With folded hands, I apologise to this community not for me but for the fact that my party had to suffer due to me,” Rupala said.

Rupala then drove to Gayatri Ashram in Gadhethad and sought blessings of Lalbapu, the Ashram head revered by many Kshatriyas.

Meanwhile, Jayrasinh claimed that Kshatriyas accepted Rupala’s apology and that the row was resolved.

However, protesters said that those who attended the Gondal meeting were affiliated to the BJP and that they do not represent the entire Kshatriya community.

Caste faultlines

Kshatriyas are the land-owning community, whose members used to rule most of the princely states across Gujarat. Though the community is said to account for about 7% of the state’s voters, it exercises considerable influence in Gujarat politics due to historical reasons. At the Gondal meeting, Jayrajsin highlighted that the number of Kshatriya voters in the Gondal Assembly seat is just 8,000 but he has won it multiple times thanks to the support of Patidars, who dominate the belt.

The state BJP was headed by Kashiram Rana, a Kshatriya leader from Bhavnagar, about two decades ago. Shaktisinh Gohil, who also belongs to the Kshatriya community, is currently the state Congress chief.

Members from the Rajput community hold a protest outside the Ahmedabad collectorate calling for the removal of BJP candidate Parshottam Rupala. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)

Some observers say that Rupala’s remarks have reignited caste faultlines in the state, mainly between Kshatriyas and Patidars. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Patidars, who account for an estimated 18% voters, challenged the Kashtriya dominance in society and politics, especially after the Congress came up with its KHAM (Kshatriya, Harijan, Advivasi and Muslim) plank as a winning combination. This pushed Patidars towards the BJP, with the community eventually propelling the party to power for the first time in 1995.

Since then, Patidars have emerged as a highly influential community in the state, socially and politically. It now dominates the government as well as the party. And Kshatriyas’ protests, observers say, also indicate to a degree their “frustration” for being relegated to the sidelines by the BJP.

Congress offensive

Congress leader Adityasinh Gohil, who is said to have a royal lineage, filed a defamation complaint against Rupala in a magistrate court on March 28, stating that his remarks tarnished his reputation as a member of the Kshatriya community. Adityasinh, who is the state Youth Congress vice-president, claimed he lodged the complaint in his personal capacity.

A day after Rupala’s public apology, Ajay Vanvi, a Dalit from Junagadh and Congress worker, also lodged a complaint with the police, alleging, “He (Rupala) said that the programme (organised by Dalits in Rajkot) was of no use to him and that he had gone there ‘just like that’… This shows his mentality towards Dalits… He has insulted Dalits while trying to warm up to Kshatriyas…Therefore, I demand that an offence be registered against the accused under various sections of the (Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST ) Act.”

BJP on back foot

Despite Rupala’s apologies, the controversy refuses to die down. At a meeting of Kshatriyas in Surendranagar Sunday, the community leaders gave a call not to allow Rupala to do any election meeting. In Rajkot, three Kshatriya men were arrested for burning Rupala’s effigy on Saturday evening, following which a mob gathered at the police station. The BJP has however shied away from countering the protests. Senior BJP leaders from the Kshatriya community, including Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, I K Jadeja and Pradipsinh Jadeja, have steered clear of the row. What has made things trickier for Rupala is that a section of the Rajkot BJP does not view his candidature “favourably” since he hails from the neighbouring Amreli district.