'Proud to be Jat,' says RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said he is Jat and is proud of his caste while replying to a query from a member of the house during the debate on the Union BudgetDhankhar said the Jats come under the OBC in the central and the Rajasthan government list and he was part of the committee which led the agitation demanding reservation for the communityI am Jat and proud to belong to this caste said Dhankhar adding This is in the OBC list in Rajasthan and also in the Central listDhankhars statement came during BJP member Ghanshyam Tiwaris speech during the debate on the BudgetCongress member Rajani Ashokrao Patil stood and asked why Tiwari mentioned Dhankhar as an OBC She also wanted to know whether Jats are OBC in RajasthanDr K Laxman of BJP said Jats were included in the Other Backward Classes during the tenure of former prime minister A B VajpayeeDhankhar said he was associated with the Jat Aarakshan Samiti and was its principal spokespersonThe Chairman said a sixmember delegation had met the then prime minister and its demand was accepted immediatelyThat time the Chief Minister of Rajasthan was at Jaisalmer and he flew back and implemented in the state also he said adding Rajasthan is the first state where Jats got reservation from Centre first and from the state laterEven then there was a legal lacuna and the case dragged in the court for years said the Chairman adding that he even pleaded in that case as an advocateAfter Dhankhars remarks Patil asked to put Marathas also in the OBC listParticipating in the debate Mahendra Bhatt of BJP said the current budget will help achieve the dream of every Indian which is to become a developed nation by 2047Haarish Beeran of IUML said every sop in the budget is given to the BJP ally state Previously it was given to BJP but now it is for allies also he saidKerala asked for a Rs 24000 crore package for two years Rs 5000 crore transhipment containers terminal at Trivandrum and Rs 5580 crore for national highwaysIt asked for an AIIMS but it was not given till now Moreover it has nothing for rubber and coconut farmersDr K Laxman of BJP said this budget is for a developed India He alleged the congress of doubletalk and said that its leaders say only Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have been rewarded but its leaders from Bihar say Bihar ko kuch diya nahiThis indicates politics over budget he addedJose K Mani KC M wondered whether this was a central budget or a budget of two states First time in the history of India natural calamities and its management has taken political colours he saidHistory has shown that appeasement of regions harm the nation he addedWhile participating in the debate Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena UBT termed the budget antiMaharashtra and as Pradhan Mantri Sarkar Bachao YojnaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever