Rohtak rally today: Modi in tow, BJP makes move to win over Jats
ABOUT SIR CHHOTU RAM
CHANDIGARH: The BJP is all set to mend fences with the Jats in Haryana, who are deeply upset with the Saffron party over the issue of grant of reservation to them in government jobs and registration of criminal cases against Jat youngsters. The Jat community constitutes about 25% of the state’s population, making them a singular dominant vote-bank which the saffron party aims to penetrate in the upcoming polls.
A grand symbolic gesture would come from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday afternoon when he unveils a 64 feet tall statue of Jat leader, Sir Chhotu Ram, at Sampla in Rohtak. The Jat leader, regarded as a messiah of peasants, was instrumental in empowering the farmers in pre-independence era and getting pro-farmer laws enacted. The peasant leader, revered as a stalwart in Haryana, embodies the emancipation of the peasantry. Union minister Birender Singh, who is the maternal grandson of the peasant leader, spearheaded the move to get the statue erected at Ram’s birthplace.
The BJP has so far failed to bridge the gap between them and Jats in Haryana. The Saffron party has not been able to sort out the issue of grant of reservation in jobs for the Jats. The 2016 Jat quota agitation and subsequent Union Minister Birender Singh said Sir Chhotu Ram was the originator of the concept of compensating the farmer for the expenses incurred on farming. “This was revolutionary in those times as farmers were entirely depending on rain and seasonal vagaries coupled with other working conditions that made their lives miserable. He brought nine enactments to improve the financial and social status of farmers. Modern concepts like debt settlement boards, caps on interest, the basic fairness to the tiller were included in these 1930s laws. Punjab Relief Indebtedness Act, 1934 and The Punjab Debtors’ Protection Act, 1936, were created in 1930s by him. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that he gave shape to a bloodless revolution in the agriculture and farming.”
registration of cases against Jat youngsters have further complicated the matters. Outfits like All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS), which lead the agitation for grant of reservation, are defiant in seeking withdrawal of cases against the Jat youth.
In 2014, the BJP rode to power in Haryana primarily on the
strength of non-jat MLAS. Six Jat and one Jat Sikh MLA won on the BJP ticket out of the party tally of 47. They are Capt Abhimanyu, Om Prakash Dhankar, Subhash Barala, Prem Lata, Sukhvinder Sheoran and Mahipal Dhanda. The lone Jat Sikh MLA is Bakshish Singh Virk from Assandh.
By crowning a non-jat chief minister in Manohar Lal Khattar, the BJP in 2014 made a clear departure from the 18-year cycle of a Jat leader being at the helm as the CM. The move to have a Punjabi as the chief minister did not go down well with the Jats and the violent quota agitation of 2016 bore testimony to sharp caste divisions the state was