Reservation: Saini warns Jats of backlash if they persist

Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 28

Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini today warned the Jat community of Haryana of political backlash if it persisted with its demand for OBC reservation. 

He said he was ready to face any consequences for standing up to the “strong-arm” tactics of the Jats.

“The 35 (sans Jats) out of 36 castes in Haryana account for 87 per cent of the demography. But the Jats have cornered more than 50 per cent of the political, administrative and economic space,” Sani said at a rally here.

“Still, they want to barge into 27 per cent quota ambit provided to OBCs,” the BJP leader said.

Backing Saini, Union minister and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha said the “Forum of OBC Parliamentarians” will push for constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes to give legal sanctity to its recommendations.

The development has thrown up sharp differences among senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers.

Saini urged the BJP leadership to take action against Union Minister Sanjeev Baliyan, a Jat from Uttar Pradesh, for publicly threatening him at a function in Rohtak recently in which another Union minister Birender Singh was present.

Balyan had reportedly asked the public to dissuade Saini from opposing quota for Jats, lest the same was done in the “UP style”. 

The rally was christened “OBC Ekta Rally” on the 125th death anniversary of “Mahatma” Jyotirao Phule, a 19th century social reformer from Maharashtra. The audiences were mainly from Haryana.

The audience was apparently enthusiastic, even though the proceedings commenced about four hours behind schedule.

They projected him as the prospective candidate for Haryana Chief Minister.

Those who addressed the rally include BJP MP from UP Ravinder Kushwaha; former Union Minister and prominent OBC face from Bihar Capt (retd) Jai Narayan Nishad; former Haryana MLAs Roshan Lal Arya and Bapu Bhujbal; and representative of former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Chaggan Bhujbal.

Continuing with the tirade, Saini said: “We tolerated five Jats as Chief Minister in Haryana. But they (Jats) are not ready to tolerate as Khattar as CM.”