Shah assures Jats of solution on reservation

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 25

In a spot following the recent Supreme Court order scrapping reservation for Jats under the OBC quota, the Bharatiya Janata Party is now looking for ways to resolve the issue to appease the politically powerful community.

BJP president Amit Shah met Jat leaders on Monday and assured them of finding ways within the law to help the community.

“We are trying to pursue the matter constitutionally. The party president has listened to Jat leaders. We will soon make the party’s stand clear on the issue,” party sources said.

A delegation of leaders from various states, comprising union ministers Birender Singh and Sanjeev Balyan and Haryana ministers OP Dhankar and Captain Abhimanyu, among others, apprised Shah of “adverse effects” on the community and grassroots across Haryana, Punjab, Western UP and Rajasthan of the apex court’s recent orders.

Additionally, Jat leaders are scheduled to meet Prime Minister Naredra Modi and Shah at the PM’s residence on Thursday.  

Jats occupy a preeminent position in Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi and eastern Rajasthan, constituting the largest group in northwestern India.

Sources said Jat leaders conveyed to Shah the community’s simmering anger against appointing a non-Jat Chief Minister in Haryana, the after-effect of which was noticed in the Delhi Assembly elections, in which the community "completely turned against the saffron party".

“Even though elections in Haryana are still five years away, the community constitutes over 17 per cent of the population in Western UP, who might feel alienated if nothing concrete is seen to be done regarding the verdict," they said.

With sources saying that the party’s ideological fountainhead — the RSS — has already issued a warning to the BJP about its disconnect with its workers at the grassroots over the contentious amendments land bill, the apex court order only adds to the party’s woes.  The BJP continues to deny that the amendments had any effect on the Delhi polls.

The RSS has also asked the party to establish contact with leaders at grassroots and lend a sympathetic ear to their issues to dispel “perceptions” that may hurt the party’s prospects upcoming elections in states such as Bihar, UP and West Bengal.

“RSS has also expressed worry that the disconnect within the BJP can hurt the party’s prospects in States going to polls like Bihar," they said.

Shah is also believed to have assured Jat leaders that he would meet representatives of various Jat organisations to evolve ways to help the community.

It was also decided at a coordination meeting between senior BJP and RSS leaders on Monday that the party president will meet workers and local leaders twice a month. Meanwhile, Shah also met senior leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi on Tuesday, apparently at the behest of the RSS leaders.

The joint meeting on Monday assessed the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last 10 months of being in power.