On March 22, during an election campaign speech in Rajkot in Gujarat, Union Minister and Rajkot Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Parshottam Rupala unwittingly triggered outrage when he praised the Dalits at the expense of the Kshatriyas or Rajputs. As clips of the speech went viral on social media, the Rajputs, who are descendants of royal or princely families in Saurashtra, began to protest. This was the region where more than 100 large and small princely states existed at the time of independence. The protests show the community’s frustration at being sidelined in the BJP. [Read More](https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-disgruntled-rajputs-of-gujarat/article68016269.ece)