Gehlot finds Jat support, 4 more in race

The Rajasthan Congress Legislature Party is to meet on Thursday in Jaipur to choose a new leader to be chief minister.

The Rajasthan Jat Mahasabha on Wednesday said it was not against backing Mr Ashok Gehlot for chief minister. It said it would like Mr Sis Ram Ola to be chief minister but a resolution adopted at a Mahasabha meeting added: “If the selection process for chief minister takes a different direction, then the Mahasabha supports the most popular Congress leader, Ashok Gehlot, for the post. He is also related to the farmer community. Farmers and labourers still remember the excellent work done on famine relief by Gehlot during his previous tenure.”

There are other contenders. Union minister Sis Ram Ola and Jat leader Col. Sona Ram (Retd) said they would be willing to serve as chief minister. “A leader from the farming community should be elected chief minister.

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Gujjar solution likely today

Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje is likely to clinch a peaceful solution to the ongoing Gujjar agitation in the final round of talks with community leader Col. Kirori Singh Bainsla on Tuesday.

Satisfied with the negotiations which took place with the state government representatives in Jaipur on Monday, leaders of the five member Gujjar team said all their demands were discussed in a cordial atmosphere.

“All our demands were discussed. The government appears to be very positive and there is no confrontation with them. We are hopeful that an agreement could be arrived at between Col. Bainsla and CM Raje on Tuesday,” Delhi MLA and member of the Gujjar delegation Ramvir Singh Bidhuri told this newspaper.

Apart from the main demand of Scheduled Tribe status, the Gujjars’ demand for Rs 10 lakhs each as compensation to all those killed in police firing during the protests and the state government’s offer of special reservation (around four to six per cent as nomadic tribe) was also brought on the table.

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Talks with Gujjars start well, today’s bandh off

The 16-day-long violent Gujjar agitation, which left at least 43 persons dead and several more injured, saw the first signs of a breakthrough on Monday after the first round of talks between the agitators and the Rajasthan government at Bayana in Bharatpur district, the epicentre of the protest.

Appearing satisfied over the way the preliminary discussions had progressed, the Gujjars, agitating for Scheduled Tribe status for their community, have decided to withdraw the nationwide bandh they had called on Tuesday.

Describing the Bayana talks as “amicable”, community leaders agreed to attend the next round of discussions in Jaipur. The leader of the agitation, Col. Kirori Singh Bainsla (Retd), who refused to participate in Monday’s discussions personally, said these talks had been “fruitful” and that he was not opposed to the idea of sending community members to Jaipur “for further discussions” with Rajasthan government representatives.

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12 MINS. 8 BLASTS. 60 DEAD

Eight bomb blasts triggered by terrorists over just 12 minutes on Wednesday night killed at least 60 people in the heart of Jaipur and injured 200.

The explosions, the first terror strikes in the Pink City, occurred in markets usually teeming with people and near the Hanuman Mandir in the walled city.

The bombings took place as India marked the 10th anniversary of nuclear tests conducted on May 13 in Rajasthan, but it was unclear if there was any link.

"According to the information I have received, 60 people have died and 150 have been injured," said Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

The Bangladesh-based Harkut-ulJehadi Islami (HuJI) is suspected to be behind the blasts, home ministry sources said.

The sources had earlier ruled out the use of RDX in the carefully orchestrated low-intensity explosions, which were believed to have been set off from cycles in areas frequented by tourists, including near the historic Hawa Mahal. But minister of state for home Sriprakash Jaiswal, saying that the government felt there was a "foreign hand" behind the blasts, added later that the use of RDX was also suspected.

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