New Delhi: Jat leaders across states on Sunday said that they will not support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 elections if their reservation demands are not fulfilled.
According to the Indian Express, the leaders had gathered from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh under the banner of the All India Jat Arakshan Bachao Maha Andolan. They said that the Narendra Modi government had cheated Jats by not accepting their reservation demand, and instead granting 10% reservation to poor upper castes and minorities.
Jat leaders from Uttar Pradesh said they would lend their support to Mayawati, as the Bahujan Samaj Party chief was the only one who had supported their demand and criticised government action during the 2016 Jat agitation in Haryana.
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“The UPA government had given us reservation in central jobs. But when it was challenged in the Supreme Court, the present NDA government deliberately did not argue our case well and the government order was quashed. Since then, the Narendra Modi government has just been giving us assurances. I warn the government that Jats won’t be manipulated anymore. We will campaign in 131 constituencies where Jats have a significant population to defeat the BJP,” Indian Express quoted Dharamveer Chaudhary, chief coordinator of the group, as saying.
The leaders said they had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah multiple times on the issue, but nothing had been achieved. “The prime minister met us on March 26, 2015, at his residence and said you are a brave community and we will give you reservation in a proper way. Ahead of the UP polls, Amit Shah said we will give you reservation and we voted for BJP. But BJP did not walk the talk,” Chaudhary said.
“We have held thousands of meetings and rallies. So many of our boys are in jail. But nothing has happened. When it came to giving reservation to the forward castes, the government has finalised everything in seven days. We have been agitating for years. In Haryana, this is going to be the core issue. It will have political implications,” added Prem Kumar, another leader.
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A few of the leaders also said that the government’s ‘anti-farmer’ outlook was hurting them. “Don’t give us reservation. But give us the right price for our crops at least,” Indian Express quoted one of them as saying.
In early 2016, Jat groups held violent protests in Haryana and adjoining areas demanding reservations under the OBC category.
Earlier this month, the Narendra Modi government introduced a Bill granting 10% reservation to the general category poor, over and above the 50% reservations for socially backward and marginalised groups.