The rise & rise of Karni Sena

JAIPUR: Seen primarily as the coming together of a bunch of unemployed Rajput youths at its inception in 2006, Karni Sena has emerged as the community’s face in Rajasthan today. But the organisation has splintered.

Among them the most prominent are Shree Rajput Karni Sena, with its patron Lokendra Singh Kalvi; Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena Samiti, led by Ajeet Singh Mamdoli; and Shree Raastriya Rajput Karni Sena, led by its president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi. These outfits have led various protests on issues involving Rajputs. Of late, they are at the forefront of the agitation against ‘Padmaavat.’

The outfits, with college students from Shekhawati as their core followers, have presented a united face but there are major differences among them due to the vaulting political ambitions of their leaders. In trying to upstage the other, all of them are trying to draw youngsters into their fold to strengthen their base.


“Kalvi was associated with Congress in 2008. Mamdoli wanted Kalvi to get him a Congress ticket and this is how they separated,” said Narayan Singh Divrala, a district president of Shree Rajput Karni Sena, which claims to have over two lakh members.

In January 2017, Karni Sena sprang into national consciousness when some Shree Rajput Karni Sena members assaulted film-maker Sanjay Leela Bhansali during the shooting of ‘Padmaavat’.

The same year, when a gangster, Anandpal Singh, was shot by Rajasthan police, Karni Sena held a ‘Shradhanjali Sabha’. Singh’s encounter became a rallying point for Rajput outfits. He had become a cult figure among many Rajput and Ravana Rajput youths who saw him as a defender of Rajputs against the “rival” Jat community. The gathering ended on a violent note as railway tracks were uprooted, public property damaged and a person allegedly killed in police firing.

“At least 14 Rajput leaders are named in the CBI FIR,” said a senior CBI officer. Karni Sena first made news in 2006, when Kalvi started protesting against Ashutosh Gowarikar’s ‘Jodha Akbar’ for “distorting history”.

The film could not be released in Rajasthan. They hit the headlines again in 2013 with threats to disrupt Congress’s ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Jaipur over their demand for quota. Despite the negative publicity, they have continued the stir against ‘Padmaavat’.

Now, Bhansali has asked them to watch the film. “We have agreed... provided he allows six historians nominated by us to watch it first,” Kalvi said.