Nearly five lakh Gujjars from across the country will participate in a mass congregation in Rajasthan's Dholpur district on September 13 to press for their demand for Scheduled Tribe status and also decide on the extension of the Justice Chopra Committee, a top leader of the community said on Tuesday.
"The Gujjars will reply to the Rajasthan government's request for extension of the Chopra Committee by three months at the mahapanchayat," said Kirori Singh Bhainsala, the main signatory to the June 4 accord with the state government.
"I alone cannot decide it. People at the mahasabha will have to be taken into confidence before making any suggestions to the government," he said.
However, co-convenor of National Gujjar Mahasabha Atar Singh Bhadana said the meet will not allow any extension to the Chopra committee.
The day-long rally will be addressed by top Gujjar leaders including members of Parliament, members of Legislative Assembly and ministers at Babumaharaj ground in Bari sub-division, Bhadana said.
The mahasabha has decided to get tough on the Vasundhara Raje government, after it failed to solve the Gujjar matter even after three months of the agitation and used delaying tactics in bringing out the recommendations of the Chopra panel, he said.
On August 26, the Gujjar leaders had urged the state government to write a recommendation letter to the Centre to change their status from Other Backward Classes to ST by September 12.
