As elections draw near, all political factions are on toes to strengthen their position in a bid to ensure victory. Meanwhile, ongoing dispute between the Rajput and Gurjer communities over Emperor Mihir Bhoj has created a lot of stir in political arenas. Actually, the whole controversy arose after adding the word Gurjer in front of the name of Emperor Mihir Bhoj and representatives of both communities are eyeball to eyeball over the issue. Meanwhile, the ongoing dispute between the two communities is now believed to have far reaching political implications Haryana.It is pertinent to mention that that the matter is sub-judice in the High Court. The High Court had sought the reply stating why the court should not ban the unveiling of the statues. Both the communities are adamant that Mihir Bhoj belonged to their community. There is a constant demand of the people of Rajput community that the word Gurjer’’ mentioned in front of the statue of Emperor Mihir Bhoj should be replaced with the word ‘’Hindu Emperor or Emperor Mihir Bhoj’’ while contrary to this, the representatives of Gurjar community are of the opinion that that the word Gurjar Pratihar should remain in front of the statue as this is appropriate historically.
Notably, the whole dispute started between Rajput and Gurjar communities in Haryana regarding Emperor Mihir Bhoj following an incident that occured in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. It is worth stating that Gurjar and Rajput communities have influence on many seats in Haryana. Estimatedly, both the communities constitute about 7 percent of the total population of the state and in terms of vote bank, both have influence in different districts. Rajput community is believed to have influence in districts namely Kaithal, Karnal, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Bhiwani and Panipat while Gurjer community constitutes a sizable vote bank in Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Panipat, Ambala and Faridabad districts.
There are a total of 90 assembly seats in Haryana and around 10 percent of legislators belong to Gurjer and Rajput communities. The list of the MLA belonging to Gurjer community includes Rajesh Nagar, Shaili Chaudhary, Pradeep Chaudhary, Leelaram Gujjer, Kanwar Pal Gujjer and Dharam Singh Chhokkar from Tigaon, Narayangarh, Kalka, Kaithal, Jagadhri and Samalkha seats respectively. Three of these MLAs, Shaili Chaudhary, Pradeep Chaudhary and Dharam Singh Chhaukkar were elected on the ticket of the main opposition party Congress The remaining three, Rajesh Nagar, Kanwar Pal Gurjer and Leela Ram Gurjee, are from BJP. Apart from these, Krishnapal Gurjer who is a BJP MP from Faridabad parliamentary seat holds the porfolio of the Union Minister of State. Similarly, two MLAs Sanjay Singh and Nayan Pal Rawat hail from Rajput community.
Few days ago, keeping in view the matter, the Haryana Government has set up a seven-member committee to examine the historical facts about Samrat Mihir Bhoj with the aim of averting the proliferation of disinformation. An order to this effect has been issued by the Chief Secretary, Sanjeev Kaushal. The order states that Divisional Commissioner, Karnal will be chairman of the committee while Inspector General of Police, Karnal Range, Karnal will be its vice chairman and Deputy Commissioner, Kaithal will be its Member Secretary. Superintendent of Police, Kaithal, two professors of History from Panjab University, Chandigarh namely Mr. Rajeev Lochan and Mr. Priyatosh Sharma and two advocates of both parties ‘Gurjar’ & ‘Kshatriya’, as representatives of both communities will be its members.
Mihir Bhoj case also has its own political importance. When the controversy started, people and leaders of the Rajput community supporting BJP started resigning at many places. Considering its political gains and losses, BJP started the initiative to resolve the matter. Now the Gurjar community is also becoming vocal about its demands regarding the matter. The government is also trying to avoid incurring the displeasure of any community in view of the upcoming elections. It is estimated that both the communities have about 7 percent votes.
Rajputs demand that Mihir Bhoj was not a Gurjar but a Rajput, hence Hindu Raja should be written before his name. The Gurjar community says that in the orders issued by the government regarding forming the committee, Rajput has been described as a Kshatriya caste. They should be written as Rajputs because the word Kshatriya is not a caste but a varna. Also, the committee that has been formed should also have representation from the Gurjar community.