‘Election gimmick’: BJP’s Jat leaders attack Arvind Kejriwal over OBC list demand

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday continued its attack on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s demand to include Delhi’s Jat community in the Centre’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) list.

Calling it an ‘election gimmick’, the party’s Jat leaders said Kejriwal did not raise the reservation issue during 10 years of him being the chief minister of the capital.

“Merely writing a letter to the prime minister doesn’t grant reservation,” Kamaljeet Sehrawat, the BJP MP from West Delhi, said at a press conference.

“Those who are doing politics in the name of Jats have never raised their voice for them in the Vidhan Sabha. In the last 10 years, Kejriwal never raised this issue in Vidhan Sabha or proposed to grant reservation to Delhi’s Jats,” PTI quoted Sehrawat as saying.

Kuljeet Singh Chahal, BJP leader and NDMC vice-chairman, slammed Kejriwal’s comments on the Jat reservation as an “election gimmick”.

“Jat reservation is just a political stunt because the AAP is on a ventilator, and that’s why they are resorting to such tactics. I am proud to be a Jat, and I was made the NDMC vice-chairman by the BJP,” he said.

Chahal said Kejriwal’s “sudden interest” in the Jat community is only because Jats in Delhi are now supporting the BJP. “Whenever Kejriwal gets caught in corruption cases, he uses these slogans to divert attention.”

“If anyone has actually worked for Jats in this country, it is Narendra Modi. Why didn’t Kejriwal ask for Jat reservation in his 10 years in power?” he added.

Kejriwal seeks inclusion of Delhi’s Jats in Centre’s OBC list

On Thursday, Kejriwal said he had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to grant reservation to Delhi’s Jats.

He accused the BJP of favouring Jats in Rajasthan while neglecting the community in Delhi.

Kejriwal questioned why Jat students from Rajasthan benefit from reservations in Delhi University (DU), while Jat students from Delhi are denied the same.

“Thousands of children from the Jat community in Delhi are unable to secure admission in DU because they are not part of the Central OBC list,” he said.

Elections to the 70-member Delhi legislative assembly will be held on February 5, and counting of votes will take place on February 8.