As 200 paramilitary personnel were airlifted from here to Rohtak on Saturday to bring normalcy in the State badly hit by the Jat quota stir, the BJP on Saturday put the blame for the current crisis on the legacy left by the Congress party but backed the reservation for the Jats saying the issue to include it “constitutionally” would be looked into by the Government.
“ Jat reservation should be there, .. and to discuss it in a concrete way Jat organisations should come forward”, said Union Agriculture Minister Birender Singh here at the BJP headquarters.
With the pro-reservation agitation of Jats getting intensified in Haryana, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju held a meeting at Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence.
The meeting reviewed the situation and discussed ways to defuse the worsening law and order situation, sources said.
The security personnel were dispatched from Delhi’s Safdarjung airfield in batches as the trouble-torn district was cut off by road and rail network due to protests by the Jat community demanding reservation. The decision to send the paramilitary personnel by air was taken by the Home Ministry following a request of the Haryana Government.
The Centre Friday rushed 3,300 paramilitary personnel to Haryana and assured Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar of all possible help to maintain law and order as the stir turned violent.
As violence continued during Jat quota protests.the Centre also asked Haryana government to provide security to people and property by ensuring law and order.
This was conveyed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to Haryana Chief Secretary DS Dhesi and DGP Yashpal Singhal at a meeting held through video conferencing. “The Cabinet Secretary reviewed the prevailing situation in Haryana and took inputs from the Chief Secretary and DGP. He asked them to ensure protection to people and property by maintaining law and order,” a senior Government official said.
Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and others senior officers were present in the meeting.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference here , Union Agriculture Minister Birender Singh along with his deputy Sanjiv Balyan, Agriculture Minister of Haryana Government O P Dhankar and BJP’s Haryana-in-charge Anil Jain, said the current agitation is moving in a direction where it would be “dividing the society”.
Singh said the problem in the Jat reservation is on account of the Congress party and it should be re-visited. The Minister appealed to the people of Haryana “to cooperate and defuse the anarchic situation”. He said the BJP was not against any case and assured that “some good result would come”.
Jain reminded that BJP had filed a review petition after the Supreme court refused to entertain the idea of giving quota to Jats. " Today the centre and state want a constitutional solution to the issue", said the BJP leader adding that "it was the earlier Congress lollypop that created the current crisis", he said. The Supreme court had last year scrapped the Centre's March 2014 notification to include Jats in the OBC list.
Jain said the people behind the current agitation would soon be exposed. He said the show-cause notice to the BJP MP Rajkumar Saini was given by the party as his comments could have divided the society.
As BJP blamed the Congress for the current mess in Haryana on the quota issue, Congress leaders also attacked the BJP and the RSS for the situation and alleged that the BJP and the RSS were conspiring to divide the nation.
"I am pained to say that while the BJP and RSS are conspiring to divide the nation through communalism and regionalism, they are also engaged in an obnoxious conspiracy of dividing Haryana on caste lines," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
He said by making controversial and unnecessary statements everyday, the ministers, MPs and MlAs of BJP have created the current provocative situation. “The BJP government has totally failed to solve it after creating the problem,” Surjewala alleged.
Meanwhile, a host of Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Saturdayappealed for peace in Haryana which remained on the boil as the Jat quota stir unleashed fresh incidents of violence and arson.
"I appeal to people of Haryana to maintain peace and brotherhood. Mutual harmony and dialogue can alone resolve any issue," the Congress Vice President said on micro-blogging site Twitter. Speaking to reporters, Hooda spoke in similar vein but steered clear of questions as to who was responsible for the deteriorating situation.