Jaipur: In a surprise move, Kirori Singh Bainsla, who spearheaded the Gujjar agitation during the Vasundhara Raje government, joined BJP on Saturday. He is likely to be a BJP candidate from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, contesting against Congress’s Namonarain Meena, who is Union minister of state for environment.
    Bainsla’s proreservation Gujjar agitation had claimed 70 lives during the Raje regime. The move is apparently aimed at wooing the Gujjar vote-bank in Rajasthan as Raje government had already passed 5% reservation bill for Gujjars, which is still awaiting governor S K Singh’s sanction.
    ‘‘It must be a surprise for you all, but I had to join politics to raise voice of the downtrodden effectively,’’ said Bainsla after signing the application form for BJP’s general membership. Bainsla, who had once announced during the Gujjar agitation that he had no inclination to join politics or contest any elections, on Saturday claimed that he had taken the decision to carry forward his fight for Gujjars’ reservation.
    ‘‘By contesting the elections, I’ll get a chance to take the issue to the Lok Sabha. This will help the cause and the community,’’ he said, hinting he would be contesting the Lok Sabha polls. Before the formal announcement of Bhainsla’s decision to join BJP, he had a closeddoor meeting with party’s state president Om Prakash Mathur and national treasurer Ramdas Agarwal. The BJP leaders seemed happy and considered Bainsla’s entry a ‘‘major achievement’’.