After suffering a major setback as Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed reservation to Jats and five other communities in Haryana, the Manohar lal Khattar Government in the state has come under severe criticism from the Opposition and Jat leaders.
While the Haryana Government has now swung into action to file its reply in the Court in this matter at the earliest, the opposition parties and Jat leaders on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the BJP led State Government for failing to deliver on its promise of giving reservation to Jats.
Both the Congress and INlD accused the BJP Government in Haryana for betraying the Jat community and deliberately bringing a law, without weighing options on its legal sanctity.
On the other hand, Jat leaders blamed the State Government for not putting up a strong case in the court due to which the HC stayed the reservation to Jats and five other communities in Government jobs and education.
The Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act 2016 was passed by the Haryana Assembly on March 29, following the ten days long Jat quota stir in February in the state that had killed 30 people, left more than 300 injured and destroying property worth hundreds of crores of rupees. The Act was notified on May 13 by the Haryana Government.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister Manohar lal convened a meeting with Advocate General Baldev Raj Mahajan, members of the Committee constituted under Chief Secretary DS Dhesi to examine the Jat reservation issue in detail and other senior officers on Thursday evening to discuss the issue.
After the meeting, the Chief Minister said that the BJP Government would not wait till July 21 to initiate legal action against the ex parte decision of Punjab and Haryana HC as per which the Court has granted interim stay on benefit of reservation to six castes including Jat, Jat Sikh, Mula Jat, Bishnoi, Ror and Tyagi under Backward Classes ‘C’ category in Government jobs and admission to educational institutes in the State.
Manohar lal said that BJP Government would present its case in the High Court at the earliest and would make all possible efforts to get the stay vacated.
Blaming the previous Congress Government on the issue, he added that had the previous government legally given reservation benefit to these castes, this issue would have not got entangled in the court.
The Chief Minister added that the State Government has given reservation to six castes Jat, Jat Sikh, Mula Jat, Bishnoi, Ror and Tyagi within the ambit of Constitution and also gave statutory status to Haryana Backward Classes Commission after 24 years of the orders of Supreme Court.
On the other hand, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda accused the State Government of betraying the people of the state. Hooda said that what the BJP Government had brought in the State Assembly was the “carbon copy” of what the Congress had provided during its rule but the Supreme Court had quashed the move.
Whatever happened today was already expected, added Hooda.
Haryana INlD chief Ashok Arora and party’s senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala also criticised the BJP Government on the issue saying that it is Government’s duty to fulfil its promise of giving reservation to Jats and get the HC stay vacated.
All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) national president Yashpal Malik alleged that the State Government was never serious about giving reservation to the Jat community. The lok Sabha session was adjourned sine die this month and the Haryana Government failed to put up a request with the Centre to include the reservation law in the 9th Schedule read with Article 31B of the Constitution of India. This was promised by the BJP led Haryana Government,” said he
The Jat leader has already announced protest across Haryana and other states on June 5 to protest against the State Government, which he alleged has failed to fulfil its promises including releasing Jat youth arrested in connection with the violence during Jat stir, giving compensation and a government job to the families of those died during the Jat agitation among other promises.