Jat stir: BJP MP Saini postpones OBC Brigade meeting

Vishal Joshi

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, February 20

Following a dressing down by the top BJP leadership for his anti-Jat rhetoric, Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini has dropped the plan of holding a meeting of the OBC Brigade.

In-charge of BJP’s Haryana unit Anil Jain in New Delhi on Saturday had informed the media a show-cause notice would be served on Saini for his alleged public utterances against Jats.

Saini had called a meeting of his supporters on Monday at Theme Park, the largest open public spaces in the city, to decide ‘plan of action’ to oppose the ongoing Jat agitation.

He had warned a ‘direct action’ by the OBC Brigade if the Haryana government failed to take action against protesting Jats in the state. 

The first time MP Saini is the leading voice against any proposal to extend OBC benefits to the Jat category. He was directly naming the Jat BJP ministers in Haryana and the Centre as alleged designers of the Jats agitation.

MP had been naming finance minister Capt Abhimanyu, agriculture minister OP Dhankar and Union rural development minister Birender Singh for instigating Jats to block railway traffic.

Saini’s personal staff told the media on Saturday the proposed meeting had been ‘postponed’ and the new date will be decided later.

The local MP is at Visakhapatnam and did not respond to the calls made by The Tribune for his comments.

On Friday, he had told The Tribune on phone to ‘fight back’ the Jats to free the blocked roads and railway tracks. 

The leader had formed OBC Brigade, a front claimed to be supported by members of 35 communities, to oppose Jats demand of job reservations.

Saini wanted rights of reservation restricted to the existing OBC castes and had threatened on Friday a direct confrontation with Jats by the OBC Brigade to ensure smooth movement of public transport.

Meanwhile, the Jats held peaceful protest in support of their demands at five different spots in the district. Traffic at these points was diverted to other routes and no untoward incident was reported from the district.