For a politician who has an opinion on every happening in the state, Ashok Gehlot’s silence on the recent Anandpal encounter carries a message. Especially as Gehlot had questioned the law and order in the state on several occasions, in reference to Anandpal. He had accused the government of political patronage and sought the arrest of the dreaded gangster.
For shrewd politician Gehlot, the Anandpal issue is not the one that he is likely to raise at this point of time. That too despite the fact that the encounter playout and statements thereafter have several points that suit the Gehlot style of sustained scathing political attack to score points.
The reason can be attributed to the strained relationship Gehlot shares with the Jats. Anandpal, a Rajput icon, had a long-standing rivalry with the Jat gangster Raju Theth, The two communities have spared no effort to make them cult figures. Anandpal’s tussle with Harjiram Burdak, the Jat Congress heavyweight and minister in Gehlot’s first stint as the chief minister too is well chronicled. It was during that time Anandpal’s history-sheet was opened by the then DGP Shantanu Kumar, another Jat.
After Anandpal’s encounter, the Rajputs have been staging protests across several districts. Anandpal’s daughter too had made an appeal to “35 kaum” leaving out one of the total 36. No prizes for guessing which.
With such strained relationship between the two communities, Gehlot is definitely not the one to be seen siding with Anandpal. Even if this means losing out on the perfect opportunity to question the government and the Chief Minister.
Political observers feel that even though the two politically dominant families of Jodhpur division were irreparably damaged in the Bhanwari Devi murder case it had caused immense political damage to Gehlot. Mahipal Maderna, had to quit the ministerial post and is presently in jail. This had further damaged the already strained Jat-Gehlot relation.
Congress leaders like Rameshwar Dudi, a Jat, welcomed the police action while Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, a Rajput, has sought CBI probe. Not just Gehlot, State Congress chief Sachin Pilot too has maintained a silence over this controversial encounter. The Congress, it seems, does not want to antagonise its traditional vote bank in the pre-poll year.
