Points Keys
- Kejriwal’s Demand: Inclusion of Delhi’s Jat community in the Central OBC list.
- Reservation Disparity: Jats in Rajasthan benefit, but Delhi Jats do not.
- Broken Promises: BJP allegedly misled Jats in 2015 and 2019.
- Electoral Impact: Jats form 8-10% of Delhi’s voters.
- Election Dates: Voting on February 5, counting on February 8.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party has recently appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inclusion of Jat community in the Central OBC list before Delhi assembly elections. Kejriwal in a letter to the Prime Minister said that the Centre has let down the Jat community for past ten years and also pointed for the differential treatment in extending the provisions of OBC reservation to Jats in Delhi and Rajasthan.
Responding to a question in an interaction with newmen at a press conference of AAP, Kejriwal criticized BJP-ruled centre for not implementing the poll sops. He explained that while Jats in Rajasthan get OBC reserved in Central list, Jats of Delhi have no such privileges in Central establishments such as Delhi Police, NDMC, DDA, AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
For thousands of OBC youth in Delhi, this breach of promise by the central government means injustice, Kejriwal said. He appealed to the Centre to rectify the five OBC lists and change its “prejudiced approach” towards the Jat community and five other OBC castes.
To this, Kejriwal also documented a meeting held in September 2015, where BJP had planned and said that Jat’s representation to be included in Central OBC list shall be worked out. He said the government has duped the community for seven years with broken promises – and the promises made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in 2019 were the latest such betrayal.
It becomes a politically sensitive factor as the Jats themselves claimed comprising of 8-10% of the electorate in Delhi. What Kejriwal wants will go well with the community before the February 5 polls since the voting will be conducted in one phase. The results will be delivered on February 8.
