Jat quota stir: How an inexperienced Khattar let Haryana burn
I am not surprised at what's happening in Haryana. Sparks have been flying for quite some time now - even before the Manohar Lal Khattar government came - and it was only a matter of time before these sparks turned into a full-fledged fire.
The situation was bad enough during Bhupinder Singh Hooda's chief ministership but he very cleverly announced the "acceptance" of all of the Jats' demands just months before elections, knowing fully well the Congress would lose out and the onus would be on the new government to deal with the emerging situation.
Adding fuel to the Jat fire was an inexperienced, and after a long time, a non-Jat chief minister, "foisted" by the RSS on a state, which, bordering the national capital is considered sensitive. This gentleman openly ignored the Jats and their demands, probably in the belief they would soon run out of steam. But, as we see now, that did not happen.
Whether their demands are justified or not, the reality is that Manohar Lal Khattar is totally confused. The BJP leadership, too, is not sure of how to react in a state where it's in power as opposed to another where there's a non-BJP government - and in which case the Central government reaction would have been completely different.
It is only now (today) that Amit Shah has come out of hibernation and called for the chief minister to talk to Jat leaders and an intermediary has also been named. But the fact remains that a great deal of damage has been done already, with the whole state virtually at a standstill and cut off from Punjab and Delhi.
What is also worrying is that Jat students in Delhi universities have also openly come out in support of their community in Haryana and have even said they would not hesitate to "hold protests" in support. Coming at a time when the JNU fiasco has still not subsided, this is a dangerous situation.
All this points to a severe lack of "connect" between the people and the government - whether at the Centre or in states - and also to the fact that BJP leaders have taken their election successes to be a sign of their invincibility.
That, in a democracy, is suicidal!