Jat leaders ask Narendra Modi government to appeal against Supreme Court ruling

NEW DELHI: A 70-member delegation of Jat MPs, MLAs and political leaders from BJP met PM Modi and party chief Amit Shah to request the government to file a review petition against the SC ruling that quashed reservations for the Jat community.

The delegation was assured of a review by both the PM and the BJP chief, a sign that BJP was mindful of the powerful community that played a role in the spectacular performance of the party in UP in the last general polls.

“We have been assured by the prime minister that the government was looking at the order carefully and seeking a solution within the legal framework,” said BJP leader OP Dhankar after the meeting.

Others said BJP’s nervousness with regard to Jats, especially after the land ordinance and resistance to it was telling. INLD MP Dushyant Chautala told ET: “Our party has always maintained that reservations should be granted on economic criterion, but the Congress government, by its purely politically motivated move, and BJP, by its lazy follow up, came up with a quota policy for Jats that had to be struck down by SC,” he said. “Now, with farmers annoyed over the ordinance, and the Yamuna Bachao Andolan people marching on Delhi, BJP has become nervous about losing support in the community, which did vote for it in large numbers in not just the general elections but also in Haryana,” he added.

Chautala said: “The PM should discuss the matter in Parliament on how best to reconcile the requirements of the community and the legal limit of not more than 50% reservations in toto,” he added.