The Akhil Bhartiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti has extended its support to the alliance for the Lok Sabha election on the Meerut-Hapur seat showing their disillusionment with the BJP. This has come as a big jolt to the ruling party.
The head of the Samiti, Yashpal Malik, made an announcement in this regard at a press conference on Tuesday. He said that the Samiti is against BJP in this Lok Sabha election and is supporting Haji Yaqub Qureshi, the SP-BSP-RLD alliance candidate on the Meerut-Hapur Lok Sabha seat.
Malik said that the Jats have decided to distance from the BJP because the BJP government ignored all the promises it made to the Jat community regarding the reservation.
“We had supported the BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha election and were hopeful that our promises would be fulfilled but not in this election as in the last five years our demands were not entertained ” he said, adding that it is very discouraging that the promises they made were not fulfilled in five years time.
We are feeling cheated and hence have decided to support Haji Yaqub who is the joint candidate of the alliance of SP- BSP-RLD, said Malik, withdrawing support from BJP candidate Rajendra Aggarwal for whom they had voted for in the last election .
“On March 26, 2015, PM Narendra Modi had invited the Jat leaders, ministers and parliamentarians from nine states to discuss about Jat reservation at his residence in Delhi and he promised them to grant reservation,” said Malik, adding that BJP president Amit Shah also invited them to discuss the issue just before the Assembly election in UP on February 8, 2017, but nothing happened, quipped Malik.
We have realised that like promises of providing employment to youths and increasing income of farmers that BJP had made but did not fulfil, the same way the demand of reservation for Jats will also not be entertained by their governments, he stated.
The Jat leader also held the BJP responsible for inciting violence in Haryana in 2016 which had led to the division of Jat and non-Jat communities. The violence claimed lives of many Jats while many were put in prison, he said, adding that many of them are still languishing in jail on false charges, said Malik adding that now they are completely disillusioned with the BJP.
“On as many as 20 Lok Sabha seats of western UP, the Jat community dominates,” said Manvendra Singh, Vice President of the Samiti. Hence, it would be a backward push to the BJP, said Singh adding that now besides Jat community, backward classes, Dalits and minorities are all there to support the SP-BSP-RLD alliance.
“Earlier, during elections, all the Jats collectively supported BJP and hence it came to power. But now we feel dejected and hence we have decided to ensure that the BJP is defeated this time,” said Singh.
“All the Samiti’s rank and files, including state general secretary Veerpal Rana have appealed to men and women of the Jat community to vote in favour of the alliance candidate. We will be campaigning against the BJP as it had ditched us,” added Singh.
Issuing a written “Jat Sandesh-Lok Sabha Election 2019”, the leaders said that an appeal has been made to the Jat community to unite and work for the defeat of BJP.
The Meerut-Hapur Lok Sabha seat comprises of five assembly constituencies. An in-charge has been deputed for each of these five constituencies who would spread the word and decision of the Samiti and how the BJP has betrayed Jats added Rana.