NEW DELHI: The Centre has advised the Haryana government to deal with the violence in the state firmly and offered all assistance to maintain law and order even as BJP said it stood for the Jat quota and asked agitators to return to the negotiating table.

Concerned over the Jat stir affecting parts of western UP as well, home minister Rajnanth Singh met prominent BJP members from the community even as party sources indicated that the agitationists will not be allowed to coerce the state government into conceding the quota demand in a manner that is not constitutionally valid.

With deployment of paramilitary and Army columns meant to signal the state’s intent to control violence, the Centre conveyed the need to enforce law and order during a video conference between Cabinet secretary P K Sinha, Haryana chief secretary D S Dhesi and DGP Yashpal Singhal. Home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi was also present.

At the political level, the agitation poses fresh trouble for the BJP regime in Haryana as it comes ahead of its plans to stage a “happening Haryana” event to attract investment. Though the stir seems to be triggered by a sense of loss of privilege among Jats, the violence is bad publicity as business activities have been significantly affected. BJP members blamed the previous Congress government for raising expectations through a flawed Jat quota and said the current offer to bring the community under an economic criteria was more viable. However, Jat representatives have rejected the offer and are demanding inclusion under the OBC category.

The government is reluctant to do so as the community does not meet the socially backward criteria. Asserting that they support the Jat quota, BJP members are arguing that the offer to implement this under economically backward status is more likely to pass the legal test as the measure is bound to be taken to court by quota opponents or others seeking similar benefits.

The Jat agitation is seen to be driven, at least in part, by a sense of disempowerment as the chief minister of the state has usually been from the community over the past decades. BJP’s decision to make M L Khattar, a Punjabi, the CM has led to some resentment even though the CM has been at pains to project himself as asupporter of Jat quota.

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