New Delhi: Union Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday reached out to Jat community from Western Uttar Pradesh at a meeting in New Delhi ahead of the UP assembly polls asking them to support the BJP as they both were fighting the same 'enemy'.
In a bid to connect with the community, Shah wore a 'Pagdi' as he spoke with the members of the Jat community in a meeting held at BJP leader Parvesh Verma's House in Delhi.
Narrating an anecdote where he was asked how come BJP claimed that they were associated with the community for centuries when the party was just 50 years old, Shah said: "I said that you fought with the Mughals and we too are fighting. This is our relationship."
The ideology of both the party and the community, Shah said, was the same as "both keep national interest first and have been fighting against 'invaders".
"There are some similarities between you (Jat leaders) and us (BJP). You have fought with Mughals for around 650 years. We too are fighting. Jats do not think only about themselves, but always prioritise nation's security, BJP also has the same ideology," Shah said, adding, "We have revoked Articles 370 and 35(A) because you have voted us to power since 2014. You have always supported us."
The meeting was also attended by the party's prominent Jat leaders including Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan who is an MP from Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh. Jats are a deciding factor in almost all the seats in western Uttar Pradesh, a region where the RLD enjoys influence among the community. The RLD, led by former prime minister Charan Singh's grandson Jayant Chaudhary, has joined hands with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party this time.
"In the meeting, we have suggested that people of the Jat community talk to Jayant Chaudhary. Doors of the BJP are always open," Verma later told reporters. The BJP's outreach is significant as there are apprehensions that the over year-long farmers' agitation against the three agri laws, which have since been repealed, will affect its prospects. However, the RLD leader gave a terse response.
"Invite those +700 farmer families which you have destroyed, not me," he tweeted in Hindi. Talking about RLD, Shah said at the meeting that Jayant Chaudhary "has chosen the wrong house".
Read: BJP ropes in Balyan, Satyapal Singh to woo Jats, farmers in western UP
Citing the various steps taken by the Modi government for the community, Shah said that it appointed three Jat governors and has nine Jat MPs. Expressing gratitude towards the community, Shah said the BJP got the community's blessings due to which the party could win in 2014, 2017, 2019 elections. "With your support, I believe you will again make us win this election as well," he said. Shah also told them that no one respected Mahendra Singh Tikait (Jat leader Rakesh Tikait’s father) like PM Narendra Modi did.
Shah said the BJP government named a university in Aligarh in Jat king's name, has constructed expressways and brought in Jewar airport for employment and prosperity in western Uttar Pradesh. Balyan said that Jats would never prefer SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Amit Shah's meeting with Jats came days after Rakesh Tikait slammed the saffron party for its divisive tactics including raising in its election campaign the alleged Hindu exodus from Kairana during the 2013 riots in Muzaffarpur. Last week, Shah began his UP campaign by meeting people door to door in Kairana.
The developments came a day before Shah and several other top BJP leaders, including Union Minister Rajnath Singh, were scheduled to visit western Uttar Pradesh. Shah held similar meetings with leaders from the Jat community ahead of the 2017 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Read: Rakesh Tikait wants to see CM Yogi as 'leader of Opposition'
