New Delhi [India], January 9 : Responding to demands to include Jat community in the central OBC list by AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Chattar Singh, former chairman of OBC Commission of Delhi Government accused BJP and AAP of being "anti-reservation".
Chattar Singh said that Kejriwal seems to lack information or he don't want to present it before the people and his own mindset is anti-reservation.
"Arvind Kejriwal either doesn't have the complete information or doesn't want to present it before the people. His own mindset is anti-reservation...I was the OBC Committee Chairman from 2007-2010. This Jat issue came before our Commission at that time. It can't be decided without public hearing. So, public hearing of National Commission was done...," said Chattar Singh while speaking to ANI.
"In the public hearing, some differences cropped up among the people present and due to that a decision couldn't be made. But what Kejriwal doesn't know is that in 2013, under the initiative of the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Centre had notified on 04.04.2013 that Jats of Delhi are included in the national list," added Singh.
"On 5th April, a notification of election was issued. Govt implemented it but when the Govt changed in 2014, they went to the Supreme Court and got it rejected through them...Both BJP and Arvind Kejriwal are anti-reservation," he further said.
Earlier in the day, Kejriwal had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to include Delhi's Jat community in the OBC list of the Centre. He accused the BJP-led Central government of "cheating" the community in the name of OBC reservation for the last 10 years.
"Delhi government OBC list consists of the Jat community, but the OBC list of the centre does not consist of the Jat community of Delhi. The Jat community students of Delhi do not get reservations when they apply for the Delhi University admission," Kejriwal said in a press conference here.
"Central government institutions do not offer reservations to the Jat community of Delhi... This is injustice for the Jat community living in Delhi," he added. Kejriwal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised the Jat community in Delhi that they would be included in the OBC list of the Centre.
"In 2015, you (PM Modi) called the leaders of the Jat community to your home and promised that the Jat community of Delhi will be included in the OBC list of the Centre," Kejriwal said. He added that Union Home Minister Amit Shah made similar promises to the community. "If the students of the Jat community of Rajasthan are to get a reservation in DU, then why don't the Jat community of Delhi get it?" he asked.
The AAP chief said that thousands of children from Delhi's Jat community do not get admission to DU due to not being on the OBC list of the Centre. "Despite being in the OBC list in Delhi, the Modi government is not allowing Jats to get benefits in the institutions of the Central Government," Kejriwal alleged.
His attack against the Centre comes in the backdrop of the upcoming Delhi Assembly election.
The Delhi assembly polls will be held in a single phase on February 5 and the counting of votes will take place on February 8. The last date for filing nominations is January 17. The date for scrutiny of nominations is January 18. While last date for withdrawal of candidature is January 20.