From 8 February 2019, Gujjars led by retired Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla sat on the Delhi-Mumbai railway line at Malarna Dungar in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, demanding 5% reservation for their community and four others. Hundreds of trains were cancelled or diverted and police vehicles were burnt in Dholpur. The Ashok Gehlot government passed a 5% "Most Backward Classes" (MBC) quota bill on 13 February, and the blockade ended on 16 February after a written agreement.
Key takeaways
- The Gurjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti began a sit-in on the Delhi-Mumbai rail line at Malarna Dungar, Sawai Madhopur, on 8 February 2019, after a 20-day deadline it had set the new Congress government expired.
- On 13 February 2019 the Rajasthan Assembly passed an amendment giving 5% reservation to Gujjars, Raika-Rebari, Gadia Luhar, Banjara and Gadaria communities, taking total reservation above the Supreme Court's 50% ceiling.
- The blockade ended on 16 February 2019 after Bainsla and Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh signed a five-point agreement, including a state promise to step in if the law ran into legal trouble.
- The 2019 law was challenged in the High Court; the court refused interim relief and the Supreme Court declined to hear a direct plea in April 2019. No final ruling on the challenge was found in reporting up to 2026.
- Gujjars blocked rail lines again in November 2020 and briefly in June 2025, mainly to demand that the MBC quota be placed in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
Background: 2006 to 2018
Gujjars in Rajasthan are classified as Other Backward Classes (OBC). In 2006 Bainsla's supporters removed train tracks at Hindaun in Karauli to demand Scheduled Tribe status Scroll. The agitations of 2007 and 2008, with rail and road blockades in Bharatpur, Karauli, Dausa and Sawai Madhopur, were the deadliest.
- 2007: At least 26 protesters were killed in police firing, according to Scroll and Arab News Scroll Arab News. A committee under Justice Jasraj Chopra rejected the Scheduled Tribe demand.
- 2008: The "rail roko" at Pilupura and Bayana in Bharatpur left 36 dead, including a policeman, by Scroll's count; Arab News put the toll at 37 by 27 May 2008. The Army was deployed Arab News.
- Total: PTI puts deaths across 2007 and 2008 at "over 70" in police firing and other violence; Outlook says about 70 and The Federal says 72 Gujjars have died in police firing over the whole movement PTI via Tribune Outlook The Federal.
After 2008 the demand shifted to a separate 5% quota. Each attempt ran into the 50% ceiling on reservation set by the Supreme Court The Wire:
- A 2008 Act created a "Special Backward Classes" (SBC) quota for the five communities. On 22 December 2010 the High Court stayed the provisions that let the state notify the percentage.
- In 2010 the Gehlot government gave the communities 1% instead, saying more would breach the 50% cap Scroll.
- The Raje government's Special Backward Classes Reservation Act, 2015 was struck down by the High Court on 12 December 2016, which also quashed the 2012 backward classes commission report behind it. Bar and Bench reported the court found the government had failed to collect quantifiable data Bar and Bench The Wire.
- On 13 November 2017 the Supreme Court ordered "status quo" and restrained the state from any step that would push reservation past 50%. A 2017 Act then created a "More Backward Classes" category for the same communities, but the state notified only 1% for it, keeping total reservation at exactly 50% The Wire.
How the 2019 blockade started
The Congress won the December 2018 Assembly election with a manifesto promise of reservation for the Gujjar, Gadia Luhar, Banjara and Raika communities. Protesters said Sachin Pilot, who became Deputy Chief Minister, had promised 5% while campaigning in Karauli. Bainsla gave the new government 20 days to start the process. The deadline ended on 8 February, and the agitation began that day Scroll.
The Gurjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (GASS) demanded 5% reservation in jobs and education for Gujjar, Raika-Rebari, Gadia Luhar, Banjara and Gadaria communities. They then had 1% Scroll. Protesters sat on the Mumbai-Delhi line at Malarna Dungar and on the Sawai Madhopur-Jaipur line at Chauth Ka Barwara PTI via Madhyamam.
Timeline
Sit-in on the tracks
Bainsla and supporters begin a sit-in on the rail line at Malarna Dungar. Bainsla says the protest will be peaceful Scroll.
First talks fail
Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh and IAS officer Neeraj K Pawan meet Bainsla near Malarna Dungar. No agreement is reached Outlook. The government names a panel of three cabinet ministers to negotiate Scroll.
Violence in Dholpur
Protesters blocking the Agra-Morena highway clash with police. Dholpur SP Ajay Singh says "unidentified miscreants" fired 8 to 10 rounds in the air, three police vehicles including two jeeps and a bus were burnt, and stone-pelting injured four jawans. Police fire tear gas PTI via Business Standard. Highways are also blocked at Bundi, Bhilwara, Gulabpura and on the Karauli-Hindaun road Outlook.
Assembly passes the bill
Minister BD Kalla introduces the Rajasthan Backward Classes (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and it is passed the same day Deccan Herald. Bainsla says protesters will not vacate the tracks until they are satisfied the law will not be struck down.
Eighth day despite notification
The blockade continues even though the state has issued a notification for the quota. Vishvendra Singh holds talks with community representatives PTI via Madhyamam.
Agreement signed, tracks cleared
Bainsla and Vishvendra Singh sign a five-point draft at Malarna Dungar. Bainsla calls on protesters to clear tracks and highways Tribune.
Disruption to trains and roads
By the end of the eight days, North Western Railway said 64 trains had been cancelled, 71 diverted and 32 partially cancelled. West Central Railway said 148 trains were cancelled, 143 diverted and 52 short-terminated PTI via Deccan Herald PTI via Madhyamam. These are the two zones' own counts and may overlap.
DGP Mohan Lal Lather said control rooms had been set up and extra forces deployed after the Dholpur violence Outlook.
Both accounts
Protesters' account
GASS said the Congress had promised the quota and must honour it. Vijay Bainsla, the leader's son, said there was no reason to negotiate: "They either accept our demands or come here and apologise for betraying the Gujjars." Leaders pointed out that the Centre had just breached the 50% cap with a 10% quota for economically weaker sections, which was "implemented within a week" Scroll. Claim · Bainsla Bainsla blamed the Dholpur violence on "anti-social elements" who had joined the protest Outlook.
Police and government account
Government's position Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot condemned the violence and said "The government is ready to open discussions with the agitating community", adding that sitting on rail tracks was unethical. DGP Lather said five policemen were injured, three cases were registered and "those flouting norms shall be dealt with an iron hand" Outlook. Before the bill, Gehlot had argued that only the Centre could grant the quota Scroll.
The injury count differs: the Dholpur SP told PTI four jawans were hurt, while the DGP put it at five policemen. No arrests had been made as of 11 February PTI Outlook. The BJP's state general secretary Bhajanlal Sharma said the issue "has nothing to do with our party" because it was a Congress promise Scroll. A rival Gujjar leader, Himmat Singh, alleged Bainsla was bargaining with the government "for vested interests" Tribune.
What the 2019 law did
The bill raised backward class reservation from 21% to 26%, with 5% set apart for the five communities, which the statement of objects called "most backward" ETV Bharat. Their existing 1% merged into the new 5%, taking Rajasthan's total quota to 54% before the 10% EWS quota. The bill's statement noted that the Centre had just passed a constitutional amendment for the EWS quota that lifted reservation past 50% Deccan Herald.
This time Congress government in Rajasthan needs to assure us that this bill passed by the Rajasthan assembly will not be challenged further.
Kirori Singh Bainsla to Deccan Herald, 13 February 2019
Pilot said the state would next ask the Centre for a constitutional amendment to secure the quota Deccan Herald. The 16 February agreement covered the 5% quota as passed, a state guarantee to "immediately intervene" if the law got stuck in a "legal tangle", filling backlog vacancies, and strengthening the Devnarayan scheme and board for the communities Tribune.
Court challenges to the MBC quota
A public interest petition in the Rajasthan High Court argued that the quota was unconstitutional because it crossed 50%, and that the communities were wrongly placed in a separate MBC category LiveLaw. The High Court refused interim relief. On 5 April 2019 a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi refused to entertain a plea against the quota because the matter was pending in the High Court The Federal.
By October 2020 the challenge also argued that the state had ignored Article 342A, added by the 102nd Constitution Amendment in 2018, under which the backward class list is set by the President The Wire. After the Supreme Court struck down the Maratha quota in May 2021, the anti-reservation group Samta Andolan said its challenges to the MBC quota were pending in the High Court and Supreme Court and that it would seek early hearings ETV Bharat.
Documented No final judgment striking down or upholding the 2019 Act was found in reporting up to October 2026. The quota has stayed in force: a March 2026 report says the MBC category gets 5% outside the state's tribal sub-plan areas ETV Bharat.
The 2020 revival
On 17 October 2020 Gujjars held a mahapanchayat in Bharatpur, fearing an adverse court ruling The Wire. The community was split. On 31 October a faction led by Himmat Singh agreed 14 points with a cabinet sub-committee, but Bainsla's faction began blocking the Hindaun-Bayana rail route on 1 November and damaged tracks at Peelupura Scroll PTI via Eastern Mirror.
Mobile internet was suspended in several districts, and PTI reported that the Home Department invoked the National Security Act in eight districts including Bharatpur, Dholpur and Sawai Madhopur PTI via Eastern Mirror. The demands were Ninth Schedule protection for the quota, filling of backlog vacancies, and 5% MBC benefit in pending recruitments.
The stir ended on 12 November 2020 after Bainsla met Gehlot. Terms included government jobs for the kin of three people who died after injuries in earlier agitations, pay-fixation orders for 1,252 MBC employees, withdrawal of cases, and implementation of the February 2019 points. Protesters refitted rail clips they had removed Tribune The Federal Free Press Journal ETV Bharat.
Later status, 2022 to 2026
Kirori Singh Bainsla died in Jaipur on 31 March 2022. Gehlot said, "If the MBC class got reservation today and if the credit goes to any one person, it is Col. Bainsla" PTI via Tribune. He and Vijay Bainsla had joined the BJP in 2019, and he had handed GASS's command to his son during the 2020 protest Outlook.
In May 2025, under the BJP government of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, Vijay Bainsla called a mahapanchayat, citing the Ninth Schedule demand, pending MBC appointments, roster revision and withdrawal of old cases IANS via Mangalorean. At the 8 June 2025 mahapanchayat at Pilupura he said the state cabinet would recommend the quota for the Ninth Schedule, and ended the gathering. Some youths then stopped a train and removed fishplates ETV Bharat. The RPF filed an FIR under the Railways Act and the public property damage law Asia News Network.
The state then formed a cabinet sub-committee on the demands, with Minister of State for Home Jawahar Singh Bedham among its members Dainik Jagran. In March 2026 Vijay Bainsla wrote to the Chief Minister asking that MBC, OBC and EWS quotas also apply in the tribal sub-plan districts ETV Bharat.
Outcome
- Law: Rajasthan Backward Classes (Amendment) Act, 2019 gave 5% to five MBC communities, up from 1%.
- Deaths: None reported in February 2019.
- Injuries: Four to five police personnel in Dholpur, per police.
- Cases: Three cases registered over the Dholpur violence; no arrests reported by 11 February.
- Trains: 64 cancelled by North Western Railway and 148 by West Central Railway.
- Agreement: Five points signed at Malarna Dungar on 16 February 2019.
- Courts: Interim relief refused; Supreme Court declined a direct plea in April 2019; final ruling not found.
What is still pending
The MBC quota still sits above the 50% ceiling without Ninth Schedule protection, and no Union action on the state's recommendations was found in the sources reviewed. Even Ninth Schedule laws can be reviewed by courts if they violate the Constitution's basic structure, under a 2007 Supreme Court ruling Insights. The High Court challenge to the 2019 Act has not been reported as decided.
Questions people ask
Why did Gujjars block the railway at Malarna Dungar in 2019?
They wanted the new Congress government to keep its promise of 5% reservation for Gujjars and four other communities. A 20-day deadline set by Kirori Singh Bainsla ended on 8 February 2019, and the sit-in began that day.
What happened in Dholpur during the Gujjar agitation?
On 10 February 2019 protesters on the Agra-Morena highway clashed with police. Police say three police vehicles were burnt, shots were fired in the air and four to five police personnel were injured by stones.
Was the Gujjar quota struck down?
Earlier versions were: the High Court stayed the 2008 quota in 2010 and struck down the 2015 Act in 2016. The 2019 law was challenged, but the High Court refused interim relief, and no final ruling was found in reporting up to 2026.
How many people died in the Gujjar agitations?
None died in February 2019. In 2007 and 2008, PTI reports more than 70 deaths in police firing and other violence; other outlets give about 70 or 72.
Why do Gujjars want the quota in the Ninth Schedule?
Laws in the Ninth Schedule get added protection from court challenge. The community wants it because the quota exceeds the Supreme Court's 50% ceiling, though courts can still review such laws for basic-structure violations.
Sources
- PTI via Madhyamam: Gujjar quota agitation enters eighth day, 15 Feb 2019
- Scroll: Gujjar protestors clash with police, set vehicles afire in Dholpur, 10 Feb 2019
- PTI via Business Standard: Shots fired, police vehicles torched during Gujjar agitation, 10 Feb 2019
- Outlook: Rajasthan CM ready to hold talks with Gujjars, condemns violence, 11 Feb 2019
- Scroll: As Gujjars protest for 5% reservation, Gehlot seeks to put blame on Modi, 13 Feb 2019
- Deccan Herald: Rajasthan Assembly passes Gujjar quota bill, 13 Feb 2019
- ETV Bharat: Rajasthan Assembly passes Gujjar quota bill, 13 Feb 2019
- PTI via Deccan Herald: Gujjar community members call off quota agitation, 16 Feb 2019
- Tribune: Gurjars' agitation called off after signing of agreement, 16 Feb 2019
- Arab News: Gujjar agitation spreads; death toll reaches 37, 27 May 2008
- Bar and Bench: Rajasthan High Court strikes down reservation for Gujjars, 12 Dec 2016
- LiveLaw: Rajasthan HC hears MBC quota case via video conferencing, 6 Aug 2019
- Insights: Rajasthan's Gujjar quota faces a legal challenge, 6 Apr 2019
- The Wire: Why Gujjars in Rajasthan are protesting over reservations again, 19 Oct 2020
- The Federal: Gujjars back to agitation mode demanding promised quota, 2 Nov 2020
- Scroll: Gujjar quota protest, trains diverted in Bharatpur, 2 Nov 2020
- PTI via Eastern Mirror: Open to further negotiations with Gurjars, says Rajasthan govt, 2 Nov 2020
- Tribune: Gurjar stir over reservation called off, 12 Nov 2020
- ETV Bharat: Gujjars call off agitation in Rajasthan, 12 Nov 2020
- Free Press Journal: CM Gehlot placates Gurjars, agitation called off, 13 Nov 2020
- ETV Bharat (Hindi): Maratha verdict and Rajasthan's Gujjar and EWS quotas, 10 May 2021
- PTI via Tribune: Kirori Singh Bainsla dies at 84, 31 Mar 2022
- Outlook: Rajasthan's Gujjar leader Kirodi Singh Bainsla passes away, 1 Apr 2022
- IANS via Mangalorean: Vijay Bainsla announces mahapanchayat on June 8, 30 May 2025
- ETV Bharat: Gurjar youths halt train at Peelupura after mahapanchayat, 8 Jun 2025
- Asia News Network: Mob booked for blocking railway tracks on Delhi-Mumbai route, Jun 2025
- Dainik Jagran: Rajasthan forms cabinet sub-committee on Gurjar reservation, 1 Jul 2025
- ETV Bharat (Hindi): Bainsla writes to CM on TSP area reservation, 16 Mar 2026