One-upmanship behind rise of various Karni Senas

JAIPUR: In a state where politics is believed to be completely caste-driven, the various Karni Senas, which identify themselves as social organisations, use politics to the hilt.

These Rajput outfits might be standing together today but behind this portrayed unity are differences arising from political aspirations and a strong undercurrent of one-upmanship. Amidst growing clamour over ban on the controversial movie ‘Padmaavat’, Sena’s splinter groups are seeking to outshine each other and drawing as many youngsters as they can, in an attempt to strengthen their organisation.

As of 2018, there are three contestants in popularity fray-Shree Rajput Karni Sena, Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena and Shree Rajput Karni Sena Samiti. All three trace their origins to

Lokendra Singh Kalvi

’s efforts to mobilise the community in 2005.

Soon after Karni Sena’s formation in 2006, internal rifts and political ambitions overshadowed the group. It was during the 2008 assembly elections that Ajeet Singh Mamdoli decided to leave Sena over conflicting political ambitions and set up his own organization named as Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena Samiti.

According to Mamdoli, Kalvi was upset with his growing political clout and parted ways with him. ‘I was the co-founder of Karni Sena and I was promised a ticket by the Congress party. Kalvi knew that I will win if I contest, which would mean that I would tower above him,” he says.

Kalvi rechristened his outfit as Shree Rajput Karni Sena and recruited his kindred aides. “Kalvi was associated with the Congress during 2008, Mamdoli wanted Kalvi to get him a Congress party ticket and this is how they separated,” said

Narayan Singh Divrala

, district president of Shree Rajput Karni Sena, which boasts of over 2 lakh members.

Since 2008 till 2012, Shree Rajput Karni Sena struggled to find a firm ground for itself in state politics. With demand for reservation on back burner, Sena members jumped on every bandwagon which could catapult them into limelight. Sena members, mostly college students from Shekhawati, protested against CBI inquiry against BJP MLA

Rajendra Singh Rathore

and release of movie Jodha Akbar etc. But none of these protests, roads blocks and sloganeering brought many gains to the nascent organisation. In 2015, Sena ousted its then state president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi when criminal charges of serious nature surfaced against him.

Much to Kalvi’s chagrin, Gogamedi formed another outfit called Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena.

In 2015, after Rajasthan’s most wanted gangster

Anandpal Singh

fled from police custody in Nagaur, red-faced Rajasthan police launched an extensive operation to track down the elusive gangster that had become a cult figure among many Rajput youths who saw him as a new defender of Rajputs against a ‘hostile’ Jat community.

It was only in January 2017 that Karni Sena became a major national talking point when its activists roughed up Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Jaipur. Another opportunity came in June 24 when gangster Anandapl Singh was shot dead in an encounter. Singh’s encounter became a rallying point for all Rajput outfits; it was for the first time that Shree Rajput Karni Sena under Kalvi carved a niche for itself, while leaving other two Senas in wilderness.