On his part, the colonel reciprocated by saying if the preliminary round went off well, he might even consider coming down to Jaipur for the next round of talks, raising hopes again of a solution to the weeks-long Gujjar agitation that has remained deadlocked over the community’s demand for an ST status and has crippled life in different parts of Rajasthan. “It depends on the community’s acceptability of the proposals made by the state government,’’ he said.
    Bainsla’s softening of stance came a day after he threw a spanner in the CM’s overture for talks by insisting that a dialogue with the government would not be possible unless it was held in Bayana, the epicentre of the struggle. At another level, the government held out the carrot of a nomadic tribe status for the Gujjars. BJP leader Gopinath Munde, who is in charge of the party in Rajasthan, said the state would offer 1% reservation to this newly formed category. Already, there’s 49% reservation for SC/ST and OBCs. Some Gujjar leaders hailed this as a “positive move’’, but Roop Singh, another leader, was not so optimistic. “It is very difficult to convince the community members of anything less than ST status. Still, we are making efforts to develop a consensus on the issue,’’ he said.
    While Raje’s efforts at reviving the talks process have raised hopes, there are still a few niggling issues that need to be sorted out. The Gujjars have submitted a list of 45 representatives, but the government has asked Bainsla to limit the list to only a dozen and keep out people from UP, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi as the matter only involves Rajasthan. “We are in touch with Bainsla over his cellphone,’’ principal secretary, water works, S N Thanvi said on Sunday. “We are willing to have preliminary talks at Bayana on the condition that the main talks will be held in Jaipur only.’’ The state took the decision at a high-level meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior BJP leaders, including Munde. <<back