Akhilesh goes all out to woo Jats post riots

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has decided to use the legacy of the popular “Jat” leader and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh in a desperate bid to “placate” the powerful and electorally important community.

The “Jats” were “sore” with the Samajwadi Party (SP) government for its alleged “one-sided action” during the recent  riots in Muzaffarnagar.

The decision to declare Singh’s birth anniversary on December 23 a public holiday, according to political observers, was a “desperate” ploy to douse the anger of the community members. They had been protesting against the state government’s alleged “biased” action after the communal clashes in the “Jat”-dominated Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts this September.

The decision comes in the wake of desertions by “Jat” leaders from the SP after the riots.
“The ‘Jats’ are disenchanted with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) for not coming to their help and are also unhappy with the state government. There is an apprehension that they may support the BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls,” said a senior SP leader here talking to Deccan Herald.

The SP poll arithmetic has gone awry with several senior Jat leaders, including those whose names had figured in the party’s list of Lok Sabha candidates, refusing to contest and many others looking for tickets from the rival parties.

Soon after the Muzaffarnagar riots, SP candidate from the “Jat-”dominated Baghpat parliamentary constituency Sompal Shastri returned the ticket and refused to contest. The riots came as a “double whammy” for the SP. Not only did several Muslim leaders of the party resign after the riots, the SP also faced desertion by the “Jat” leaders from the region.

According to sources, SP general secretary Anuradha Chaudhary, who also enjoys the status of minister of state, is also likely to quit the party. She is from the “Jat” community.