ON 15 AUGUST 2024, Kailash Gahlot unfurled the national flag at the Chhatrasal stadium, in north Delhi. In the absence of the chief minister, the lieutenant governor has the prerogative to nominate a person to unfurl the flag. While the ruling Aam Aadmi Party wanted Atishi—Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of the state, who was imprisoned at the time, had written to the LG with this request—the LG nominated Gahlot, the home minister in the Delhi government and the most prominent Jat leader in the AAP. Coming through the LG, who reports to the central government, the action was taken as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s overture to Delhi’s Jat residents.
Three months later, with the city headed for an assembly election, Gahlot left the AAP and joined the BJP. His exit was a blow to the party, which had been counting on the leader to bring in the Jat vote. “When Kejriwal was released from prison, he did not even shake Gahlot’s hand,” Surendra Kumar, who teaches in Delhi University, said. It was unclear whether this was fact or rumour, but the supposed insult had made an impact. Kumar said that it had hurt the pride of Delhi’s Jats, who had resolved to avenge the insult to their leader in the polling booth.
The AAP was quick on the uptake. On 9 January, after the election dates were declared, Kejriwal held a press conference drawing attention to the situation of Delhi’s Jats. He noted that Delhi government universities and colleges have reserved seats for the community, but this was not true of institutions controlled by the union government—Jats are not in the central list of Other Backward Classes, and inclusion has been a long-standing demand. “The BJP has called Delhi’s Jats four times and promised them reservations before each election,” he said, adding that he had written to the prime minister on the issue.
There has only been one Jat chief minister in Delhi since 1993—Sahib Singh Verma, from the BJP. He held the post for more than two and half years and resigned in the final months of government. He was replaced by Sushma Swaraj. “When he was removed from the post by the BJP, there was a massive panchayat held, under the leadership of my grandfather,” Surendra Solanki, a Jat chief who heads an umbrella body of 360 villages comprising people from 36 communities native to Delhi, said. “There was a lot of anger against the party that they had removed a moolnivasi”—original inhabitant—“and placed someone else as the chief minister,” Solanki said. It was decided in the meeting that the BJP would pay the price for its actions and they may not have a chief minister in the state. “It’s been 28 years,” Solanki said.