Kshatriyas Declare War on Rupala

The minister's appeasement of Dalits has upset the warrior class, who want his candidature withdrawn or they will stir trouble for the BJP in all 26 seats 

- Jumana Shah

A careless comment from the Union minister of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, Parshottam Rupala, is threatening to put the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a spot in a state that it has held for nearly three decades-Gujarat. Rupala's transgression came at an event of the Valmiki Samaj last month, where he said that while the British oppressed and tortured all Indians, members of the princely states bowed to them, fraternised with them and even married their daughters to the imperialists. He went on to glorify the Dalit community-of which the Valmikis are a partfor not giving in to them. "Dalits were tortured the most, but they did not yield," Rupala, who is the BJP candidate from Rajkot, said.

While Rupala's depiction of history may (or may not) have endeared him to his target audience for the day, it certainly has the Kshatriya community-of which the erstwhile royals were a part-up in arms. As their ire mounted, not just against Rupala but also the BJP, the Union minister apologised profusely in public, saying, "I never meant what I said. It is a matter of great regret for me that such words came out of my mouth." But the self-flagellation did little to appease the Kshatriyas, who termed the apology as nothing but a poll ploy, and are not willing to settle for anything less than the withdrawal of Rupala's candidature.