Congress on Wednesday sent a high level team to Rajasthan for an on-the-spot study of the Gujjar agitation, even as it held the Vasundhara Raje government squarely responsible for "mishandling the situation."
Party chief Sonia Gandhi asked All India Congress Committee general secretary Mukul Wasnik and three other party leaders to proceed to Rajasthan and report on the situation and convey the condolences of the party to those affected by the "terrible violence unleashed by the government."
AICC spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan told reporters that AICC coordinator for Rajasthan Birender Singh Pradesh Congress Committee chief C P Joshi and Congress Legislature Party leader Hemram Chaudhry are other members of the team headed by Wasnik.
Natarajan expressed grave concern over the "deteriorating situation" in the state and alleged that there was a breakdown of Constitutional machinery.
She expressed apprehension of the agitation spreading to other states as also Delhi.
"The chief minister of Rajasthan has brought the situation to such a pass. It is badly mishandled by the state government," she said adding the urgent need was to save life of the people.
Around 35,000 security personnel will be deployed across National Capital Region on Thursday as Delhi and surrounding areas are bracing up for the 'rasta roko' agitation by Gujjars.
Anticipating trouble, sources said around 35,000 personnel, including those from Central paramilitary forces and Delhi police, will be on streets, particularly in Gujjar strongholds in the region.
There will be strict vigil on Delhi borders -- especially on three points, Aya Nagar, Bopari and one in north-east district -- to ensure that trouble-makers do not create violence in the national capital, they said.
The capital's periphery is dotted with pockets of the Gujjar community which is on the warpath demanding Scheduled Tribe status.