UP Polls: Amit Shah Meets Jat Leaders, BJP MP Says Party's Doors Are 'Always Open' For Jayant Chaudhary

Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan, BJP MP Satyapal Singh, and Parvesh Verma attended the meeting. Mohit Beniwal and Captain Abhimanyu of the BJP in Western Uttar Pradesh were also present during the meeting.

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah met with Jat leaders in the national capital on Wednesday, ahead of the first round of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan, BJP MP Satyapal Singh, and Parvesh Verma attended the meeting. Mohit Beniwal and Captain Abhimanyu of the BJP in Western Uttar Pradesh were also present during the meeting, ANI reported.

This meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah was attended by around 200 Jat leaders.

"We have demanded Bharat Ratna for (former PM) Chaudhary Charan Singh, reservation for Jats & proportionate representation in Central & UP Govts. The HM has responded positively," an attendee told ANI.

Satyapal Singh, a BJP MP from Baghpat, stated that no Jat leader or member of the Jat community is upset with the party.

On the SP-RLD alliance, BJP MP Parvesh Verma said, "On (RLD chief) Jayant Chaudhary, he (HM Amit Shah) said that there are many possibilities after the polls. For now, he has chosen a party. People of Jat community will speak to Jayant. BJP's doors are always open for him."

Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan, recognised as one of the most powerful leaders of the Jat community in western Uttar Pradesh, stated that today's meeting is on the election agenda. He informed that the meeting was meant to take place earlier but was unable to do so owing to the COVID scenario.

BJP's Outreach To Jat Leaders

So far, the BJP has named 204 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. There are over 80 OBC leaders and more than a half-dozen Jat candidates among them. Similarly, the RLD has fielded more than ten Jat leaders among its 33 candidates.

Today's gathering is especially significant since, following the 13-month-long farmers' revolt, the Jat population in western Uttar Pradesh is considered to be dissatisfied with the present BJP administration.

The gathering might be interpreted as an attempt to assuage the Jat community's animosity towards the BJP. However, BJP leaders explicitly deny that Jat leaders are enraged with the party.

Today's meeting between Shah and Jat leaders is deemed crucial ahead of the first phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh on February 10.

The struggle in Western Uttar Pradesh has become extremely difficult for the BJP, especially since the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) established an alliance.

Many Jat leaders from various parts of western Uttar Pradesh attended today's conference.

(With ANI Inputs)