Train and bus services between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh remained suspended or disrupted even as Gujjars of Madhya Pradesh staged a dharna at many places on Monday in support of the agitation by their community in Rajasthan to press for Scheduled Tribe status.
The dharna was in progress in Indore, Gwalior, Morena and other places in western Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh Gujjar Mahasabha President Sardar Singh told UNI, adding a memorandum addressed to the Centre would be handed over to the district authorities on Monday evening.
Among others the memorandum sought that the Centre should dismiss the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government and ask the Rajasthan government to send its recommendation to the Centre to grant Scheduled Tribe status to Gujjars, who were at present included in the Other Backward Class (OBC). Singh also condemned the Rajasthan government's directive to the Army to forcibly remove the agitating Gujjars.
Many trains bound towards Kota, Sawai Madhopur and Bayana were diverted on other routes due to the agitation, railway sources said.
Bus services between both states remained suspended for the third day today.
There was heavy rush of passengers at Bhopal, Bina and Guna railway stations in view of disruption in train and bus services between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The rail traffic in Rajasthan was badly affected for the third consecutive day with nine trains, mostly originating from Delhi, being cancelled in the interest of passengers' safety, a Railway official said.
The trains that have been cancelled are Nizamuddin-Mumbai August Kranti Express, Dehradun-Bandra Nimach Link Express, Nizamuddin-Udaipur Intercity Express, Nizamuddin-Indore Intercity Express, Amritsar-Mumbai Golden Temple Mail and Firozpur-Mumbai Janta Express. Other cancelled trains are Nizamuddin-Kota Janshatabdi Express, Ahmedabad-Nizamuddin Gujarat Sampark Kranti and Nizamuddin-Bandra Sampark Kranti .
The diverted trains are New Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express, Amritsar-Bandra T Paschim Express, Jammu Tawi-Hapa Super Fast, Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani and Bandra Terminus-Jammu Tawi Swaraj Express.
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