Maintaining law, order not priority for Gehlot govt: Satish Punia

Following unrest created due to protests by tribal communities near Dungarpur over reservation, Rajasthan BJP president Satish Punia on Sunday hit out at Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, stating that "maintaining law and order is not the priority of the state government".

"The incidents of protests in the last three-four days in South Rajasthan are unfortunate. It has exposed the Rajasthan government's inability to handle any situation. The state government says that disturbance was created by outsiders. It clearly shows that the priority of the Gehlot government is not maintaining law and order," Punia told media here.

On Thursday, protestors from tribal communities had blocked National Highway 8 near Dungarpur and pelted stones on police personnel during a demonstration demanding recruitment of reserved category candidates on 1,167 vacant unreserved positions for teachers from the year 2018.

Rajasthan Minister Arjun Singh Bamya, MLA Dayaram Parmar other leaders on Sunday held a meeting with protesters, demanding recruitment of reserved category candidates on vacant unreserved positions for teachers from 2018.

Addressing the media on the issue, Rajasthan DGP Bhupendra Singh said that two compes of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and six compes of Rajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC) have been deployed in Dungarpur. Moreover, 24 cases have been registered in connection with the incidents of violence, in Udaipur and Dungarpur, he said.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA Dayaram Parmar on Sunday said that the highway will be cleared after a delegation of administration met the protesters.

"It has been decided that peace will be restored. The highway will be cleared today. A delegation of administration and people's representatives met the protesters. They have been given the responsibility to maintain peace in their respective panchayats," he said.

BJP MP Rajyavardhan Rathore had earlier said the Rajasthan government was on 'auto-pilot' mode and the worsening situation in Dungarpur shows a big failure on the part of the government.

"The Rajasthan government is on auto-pilot. The law and order situation in Dungarpur is getting worse day by day and it has become so bad that young people are being fired upon. The government is not paying attention to the needs of the youth of their country. They have been on the streets for two weeks. Why was this allowed to go on for so long?" Rathore had said while speaking to the media.

"No one went to meet the agitating youths. This is a big failure on the part of the government. They have not created a single vacancy. Even the ones the BJP government had created have not been filled. We want the Rajasthan government to immediately reach out to the youth who are protesting and find a solution to their problems," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )