Taking exception to the political parties supporting the ongoing Jat agitation in the state, Haryana Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu on Friday said that earlier it was the Congress and now the Indian National lok Dal (INlD) is extending their support which clearly indicated that the agitation is politically motivated and has nothing to do with the common man.
Referring to the demands of Jat outfits, Capt. Abhimanyu said that the State Government had given the benefit of reservation to the Jats and other castes by getting a Bill passed unanimously in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. He hoped that in view of the sentiments of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, the Court would pronounce its decision in favour of reservation.
He said that Chief Minister Manohar lal had already made it clear that as soon as the stay on reservation is vacated, the State Government would write to the Central Government to include it in the ninth schedule of the Constitution. In such a situation, there was no point of doing agitation for reservation, he added.
Taking a dig at the Congress and INlD for doing politics in the name of reservation, he said that INlD remained in power from 1999 to 2005, yet neither the party nor its leaders ever thought of reservation. Not only this, the people of the State still have not forgotten the Meham and Kandala incidents of their tenure when bullets were fired at the innocent farmers. Now these parties are playing with the sentiments of the people by indulging in cheap politics on the issue of reservation, said the Minister.
lashing out at the Congress, Capt. Abhimanyu, who himself is a Jat leader, said that similarly, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his party, who had plunged the state in fire of violence in the guise of agitation last year, are supporting the ongoing agitation at some places. He said that surprisingly, Hooda, who himself remained Chief Minister of the state for ten years thought about the reservation at the time of ousting of his government. They gave the reservation just to fulfill their vested political interest, he added.
The minister said that the Jat community of the state wanted to ask Hooda that why he did not given reservation during his tenure. He said that why Hooda who had more than 60 MlAs did not give reservation by enacting a legislation in the State Assembly.
The Minister said that people of the state are very well aware of the fact that INlD and Congress have always done cheap politics on the issue of reservation and vitiated the peaceful atmosphere of the State.
The Finance Minister also questioned that as why Jat leader Yashpal Malik who is misguiding the people of Haryana never did any agitation for the sake of those Jat youth of his state of Uttar Pradesh, who were behind the bars after their name appeared in violence in their state.
He added that Jats in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi had also got the benefit of reservation during the tenure of BJP Governments and intention and policy of BJP is very clear and it is in favour of reservation to Jats and other castes.