Jat quota row: BJP plans peace groups in Haryana

NEW DELHI: "Form peace committees in the neighbourhood, peace committees in the districts, and at the 'nagar' level... spread this message...," BJP general secretary Anil Jain instructed the caller, quite obviously a state party functionary in Haryana, on Monday evening. He was asking party workers to form groups and hit the ground to contain the violence that was still on.

The urgency in the voice of Jain -also party in-charge of the state -was a clear indication of how BJP is still struggling to get the situation in Haryana under control, even after the government on Sunday promised it would extend benefits of reservation to the agitating Jat community .

Jain said, Jats were the only agrarian caste to have been left out of OBC reservation by the Mandal Commission due to a mistake that showed them as Chilla-Jats instead of Jats. Asked why the wealthy Jats needed reservation, Jain countered by saying, "That is no argument. Kurmis, for in stance, are educated and well established yet they fall into the OBC category . Then why not Jats?"

According to sources there are three options that the governments can choose from and the first is that Jats could be included in the Special Backward Caste (SBC) category -a ploy which had been tried by former Haryana CM and Congress's Bhupinder Singh Hooda. But since he had not got it approved from the NCBC (National Commission for Backward Castes), it was shot down by the courts. "This time whatever the government does, it will get it approved by NCBC," they said.