Parshottam Rupala on Apr 16 formalised his nomination as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the Lok Sabha 2024 election from Rajkot—a contemptuous move in the eyes of the Kshatriya community that has been calling for his removal over allegedly derogatory remarks. 

Five Rajput women, who had threatened to perform jauhar (ritual self-immolation) if Rupala was not dropped from the ticket, say the BJP has “deceived” them. 

In a video, the women say: “When we went to perform jauhar, four leaders who have direct access to prime minister Modi assured us that Rupala’s candidacy would be cancelled and everything would be resolved accordingly. We feel like we have been played. We don’t have faith in the Rajput Sankalan Samiti either.”

Another Kshatriya woman from Kutch pointed out that while Rupala did not withdraw from the race—potentially, the union minister’s Lok Sabha debut—despite opposition from the community, the BJP did not drop him, either. “Maybe the BJP doesn’t want the Kshatriya vote,” she said. 

 A third woman accused community leaders of not putting their money where their mouth is. “Stop the rhetoric and show us results. You held such a big convention in Rajkot, but cannot show results. Earlier, it seemed that Kshatriya women were safe, but now it’s different,” she said.

Rajputs from across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh had gathered in Rajkot’s Ratanpur on Apr 14, to condemn Rupala’s suggestion that the community had “bowed before the British” and to demand that the BJP cancel his candidacy. 

Notably, while the BJP’s top brass and community leaders scrambled to a late-night meeting at chief minister Bhupendra Patel’s Gandhinagar residence on Apr 15, Rupala nevertheless filed his nomination forms the next day. 

Also read:

LS polls 2024: BJP, Congress candidates start filing nominations

BJP’s Parshottam Rupala files for Lok Sabha Election from Rajkot amid controversy