If this wasn’t headache enough for Khattar, he also faces a split within his party on the issue.
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In fact, the Khattar government has been criticised from the beginning for being slow in reacting to contentious issues.
The leaders also demanded that a compensation of Rs 50 lakh be given to the kin of the person killed in firing yesterday and a government job to one of his family members.
Sources said BJP chief Amit Shah has been tasked to speak to influential Jat leaders and win them over.
Chandigarh:With Jat rioters yet to be brought under control in Rohtak and reports of communal violence and destruction of public and private property continuing to come in from across Haryana, the state administration and Central forces seemed to be struggling to gain an upper hand on Saturday.
Four people were killed in clashes with security forces, said Federal Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh. Agitation was also reported in Kaithal.
The protests have spread to other districts of the state. For, unlike the younger Devendra Fadnavis of Maharashtra, who organises investment jamborees every now and then, Khattar was not seen as a “contemporary go-getter”.
Khattar government had even launched a new industrial policy to attract fresh investments in the state.
The Indian army used helicopters to ferry men to affected areas for staging a flag march and enforcing a curfew after the protesters blocked roads.
I not surprised at what’s happening in Haryana. Another attack had taken place in Bhiwani, where alleged BJP supporters had set on fire a Jat dharamsala and also indulged in vandalism, Chautala claimed.
As the protest intensified, some unidentified persons set on fire the Budha Khera Railway Station in Jind district this morning.
Protesters ransacked and set on fire a Toll Plaza near Panipat on the Panipat-Rohtak Highway this evening, police said.
He again appealed to those agitating in the State to withdraw their agitation and return to their homes as the Government has accepted their demands. At present, 27 per cent of government jobs are reserved for OBC category.
Notably, Jats are miffed at the opposition of Kurukshetra MP Saini to Jat reservation. Several trains were cancelled by Railway authorities.
Normal life remained disrupted in large parts of the state with shops and commercial establishments besides schools remaining closed, mobile internet services being suspended in many districts, and transportation of essential commodities, including LPG, milk and vegetables, also being adversely affected. Curfews were clamped on Sonepat, Jind and Jhajjar towns.
At a media interaction in the morning, DGP Y.P. Singhal called the agitation “leaderless” and said the involvement of “some agitators” from outside the State could not be ruled out.
Shoot at sight orders have been issued in Jind, Bhiwani and Rohtak. On February 16, they blocked railway tracks and national highways apart from state highways and local roads.
“We have imposed section-144 for two days”.
He said the fourth Malaysian citizen had earlier returned to Malaysia for holiday.
India’s official broadcaster – All India radio (AIR) said three people have been killed in the clashes with police and paramilitary.
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The army has deployed at least 11 columns – each has 75-100 personnel – so far.
