Jat outfit to back SP-BSP on 23 Lok Sabha seats, Congress on two
Aditya Dev | TNN | Updated: Apr 8, 2019, 08:46 IST
Yashpal Malik (second from left) said the main aim was to defeat the BJPGHAZIABAD: The Akhil Bhartiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti announced on Sunday it will support the SP-BSP alliance on 23 seats and Congress on two seats in west UP. Led by Yashpal Malik, the Samiti — which fights for caste-based reservation for the community — said its aim was to defeat BJP, which had “betrayed the community’s trust on reservation”.
“Our main aim is to defeat BJP. We’re working together with Dalits, OBCs and Muslims to achieve this target. There are two reasons for this. One, both PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah lied to us on Jat reservation, after it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015. The second reason is atrocities committed on Jats and false cases imposed on them during the 2016 Jat agitation in Haryana,” Malik said on Sunday.
On March 15, 2015, the apex court had cancelled the notification issued by UPA 2 on March 4, 2014 — a day before the announcement of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Under the notification, the previous government had announced reservation for Jats in the OBC category in nine states.
Malik said PM Modi had called Jat leaders to his house on March 26, 2015, and assured them his government would provide reservation to the community through a law. “It did not happen, and when we protested, Shah called up a meeting of community leaders in 2017, ahead of the UP assembly polls, to reiterate their stand,” he said.
He added it was BJP which had started the Haryana agitation through its Jat leaders, and later used its non-Jat affiliates to start a riot in February 2016, in which 32 people, including 18 members of the community, were killed. “All this was done for political gains,” he further added.
“There are 25 Lok Sabha seats in western UP in which the Jat population ranges between 1.5-4.5 lakh. With support of Dalits and Muslims, we’ll achieve our target. In Ghaziabad, we’ve decided to support the mahagathbandhan candidate Suresh Bansal. There is palpable anger against the BJP candidate General V K Singh (retd). Whatever happened in Haryana was done by BJP workers,” Malik alleged.
The Samiti is supporting the Congress in Fatehpur Sikri (Raj Babbar) and Saharanpur (Imran Masood), Malik said. Malik, 57, had led the Jat agitation in Haryana in 2016.
“Our main aim is to defeat BJP. We’re working together with Dalits, OBCs and Muslims to achieve this target. There are two reasons for this. One, both PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah lied to us on Jat reservation, after it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015. The second reason is atrocities committed on Jats and false cases imposed on them during the 2016 Jat agitation in Haryana,” Malik said on Sunday.
On March 15, 2015, the apex court had cancelled the notification issued by UPA 2 on March 4, 2014 — a day before the announcement of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Under the notification, the previous government had announced reservation for Jats in the OBC category in nine states.
Malik said PM Modi had called Jat leaders to his house on March 26, 2015, and assured them his government would provide reservation to the community through a law. “It did not happen, and when we protested, Shah called up a meeting of community leaders in 2017, ahead of the UP assembly polls, to reiterate their stand,” he said.
He added it was BJP which had started the Haryana agitation through its Jat leaders, and later used its non-Jat affiliates to start a riot in February 2016, in which 32 people, including 18 members of the community, were killed. “All this was done for political gains,” he further added.
“There are 25 Lok Sabha seats in western UP in which the Jat population ranges between 1.5-4.5 lakh. With support of Dalits and Muslims, we’ll achieve our target. In Ghaziabad, we’ve decided to support the mahagathbandhan candidate Suresh Bansal. There is palpable anger against the BJP candidate General V K Singh (retd). Whatever happened in Haryana was done by BJP workers,” Malik alleged.
The Samiti is supporting the Congress in Fatehpur Sikri (Raj Babbar) and Saharanpur (Imran Masood), Malik said. Malik, 57, had led the Jat agitation in Haryana in 2016.
Download The Times of India News App for Latest Elections News.
Making sense of 2019
#Electionswithtimes
View Full Coverage
All Comments ()+^ Back to Top
Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive. Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.
HIDE