BJP cautious on Gurjar-Thakur face-off over Mihir Bhoj

Lucknow, May 31 (IANS) The BJP in Uttar Pradesh is unnerved over the Gurjar-Thakur controversy that has led to tension in Saharanpur district.

Coming ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP does not want any caste tensions on the issue.

The row erupted two days ago over the Gujjar community taking out a 'Gaurav Yatra' of 9th century king Mihir Bhoj.

The incident had prompted a backlash from the Thakur community which, too, has been claiming the legacy of the emperor, otherwise referred to as the one from the 'Gurjara-Pratihara' dynasty.

Party sources said that the BJP leadership had asked its organisational machinery to control the situation which otherwise threatens to grip the politically sensitive west UP region.

A senior BJP leader has been asked to rope in public representatives and local organisational leaders from both the communities to assuage the agitators.

The BJP leaders admit that the situation was a cause of worry given its larger political ramifications in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"This is an issue of cultural aspirations which need to be handled tactfully and carefully," said a senior BJP leader, asserting that the issue was being seemingly and deliberately stoked by a handful of opposition leaders to create caste fissures in the region.

A similar tension had prevailed in Dadri in Gautam Buddha Nagar nearly two years ago following installation of a statue of Mihir Bhoj with the word 'Gurjar' inscribed on it.

The Thakur community, which claimed to adulate Bhoj, had subsequently objected to the use of the word 'Gurjar'.

BJP sources said that the party leadership tends to tread cautiously on the issue given the significant socio-political importance of both the communities in the region.

The BJP, as a matter of fact, had recently faced an electoral setback after its candidate Rajkumari Saini lost the bypolls in Khatauli to SP-backed RLD candidate Madan Bhaiyya, a Gurjar.

This time, it is SP legislator from Sardhana, Atul Pradhan, also a Gurjar, who reportedly led the agitation in Saharanpur.

Pradhan defeated BJP's firebrand Thakur leader Sangeet Singh Som in the 2022 Assembly elections but Pradhan's wife Seema lost the mayoral election from Meerut to BJP's Harikant Ahluwalia.

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