'If Yadavs and Gujjars can get reservations, why not Jats': Birender Singh

Union Minister for Rural Development and Jat leader Chaudhary Birender Singh on Tuesday expressed his dissatisfaction over a Supreme Court ruling which struck down an earlier decision that grouped the community among Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

"This is a court's decision, but on the basis of societal demarcations, if Yadavs and Gujjars can get reservations, why not Jats?" questioned Birender Singh.

"The Jat organisations will protest against this ruling and appeal against it, and I am confident justice will prevail," he added.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court stated that caste cannot be the sole ground for reservation and quashed the Jat notification of the reservation bill.

The UPA Government had announced reservation for Jats in 2014 by including them in the OBC category on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections.

However, a group of petitioners claimed that Jats were 'politically and socially' advanced and that the decision to extend reservation to them was electorally motivated.