Political Pulse

The main focus of the Gujarati Kshatriyas' nationwide protests leading up to the Lok Sabha elections has been Parshottam Rupala, the Union minister and BJP candidate for Rajkot, allegedly making disparaging remarks about the community during a speech on March 22. Since then, the Kshatriya community in the state has united through a coordination committee of its ninety-two organizations to oppose the BJP for rejecting their demand that Rupala's candidature be withdrawn. In other cases, the Kshatriya demonstrators have even interfered with BJP candidates' campaigning in respective districts.