Ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi are sparring over the Jat quota. After projecting himself as ‘Haryana Ka Lal’ during the assembly polls in Haryana, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday voiced his support for granting Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation status to the Jat community, a move is being seen to consolidate Jat votes in the upcoming assembly polls. Kejriwal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of “betraying” the Jat community of Delhi by not including it in the Centre’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) list. The Jat community holds significant influence in Delhi, comprising an estimated 8-10 per cent of the electorate.

 The BJP dismissed Arvind Kejriwal’s new-found love for Jats as gimmickry. In a veiled attack on Kejriwal, BJP candidate from New Delhi Assembly and former MP Parvesh Sahib Singh said the AAP chief is trying to divide Delhi on caste lines when he has never remembered the Jat community in the past 11 years.

“This is the same Arvind Kejriwal who found the Jats repulsive, who refused to let them and the people of rural Delhi enter his house. But now, as elections approach, and rural Delhi – be it Jats, Gurjars, Yadavs, Tyagis, or Rajputs – stand united against him, Kejriwal suddenly remembers the Jats.

Kejriwal, who did not build a memorial for Sahib Singh Verma, the most renowned Jat leader of Delhi, is now talking about the welfare of Jats,” he alleged. On land acquisition, Parvesh said, “Farmers’ lands are forcibly acquired by Kejriwal’s government at cheap rates, while market rates range from ?10–15 crores. During my father’s tenure, farmers were given fair market rates.” BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri hit back at Arvind Kejriwal for misleading Jats over quota and said, “Jats are already in the OBC list of Delhi. Kejriwal should tell how many Jats has he given jobs to in Delhi in the last 10 years.”

In his letter, Kejriwal now urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the inclusion of Delhi’s Jat community and five other s in the central OBC list.

There are 10-15 assembly seats in Delhi where Jat vote matters.  “I am writing this letter to remind you of a promise you made on an important issue 10 years ago. Over the past few days, I have met with several representatives of Delhi's Jat community, who have expressed concern over the exclusion of their community from the central OBC list," the statement reads.

"These representatives informed me that on March 26, 2015, you invited representatives of Delhi’s Jat community to your residence and promised them that the Jat community, which is listed under Delhi’s OBC category, would also be included in the central OBC list. This would enable them to avail of reservation benefits in central government colleges and jobs in Delhi," Kejriwal said further.

"Later, on February 8, 2017, Mr. Amit Shah convened a meeting of Jat leaders from Delhi and across the country at the residence of Chaudhary Birender Singh before the Uttar Pradesh elections. He promised that the OBC communities listed in state lists would be included in the central list as well."

Before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Amit Shah again met Jat leaders at the residence of BJP MP Parvesh Verma in Delhi and reiterated the promise that the Jat community of Delhi would be included in the central OBC list. However, no action was taken after the elections."

"I would like to draw your attention to several inconsistencies in the central government’s policies regarding OBC reservations. For instance, I learned that Jat youths from Rajasthan benefit from OBC reservation in Delhi University because they are included in the central OBC list.

 On the other hand, Jat youths from Delhi, despite being listed under Delhi’s OBC category, are unable to avail of these benefits because your government has not included Delhi's Jat community in the central OBC list, Kejriwal added further.

There are seven universities of the central government in Delhi. There are dozens of colleges of Delhi University. There are jobs in many institutions of the central government like Delhi Police, NDMC, DDA,

AIIMS, Safdarjung, Ram Manohar Lohia in which the rules of the central government are applicable. In such a situation, due to this breach of promise by the central government, injustice is being done to thousands of youth of the OBC community of Delhi," Kejriwal said in the letter. Kejriwal further demanded similar inclusion for Rawat,

Rauniyar, Raya-Tanwar, Charan, and Od castes, which already enjoy OBC status in Delhi.