Modi laying foundation of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh varsity in Aligarh on 14th

ISLAMABAD: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Aligarh Tuesday (September 14) for the foundation-laying ceremony of a state university named after Jat Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh.

The visit is being seen as yet another move by the BJP to pacify the Jat community of western Uttar Pradesh that is seething in anger over the farm laws. The BJP is looking to send a message to the Jats that none of the previous governments bestowed any honour on the ‘most powerful Jat king’ in the way he deserved.

Aligarh is famous for being a Muslim educational heritage. Uttar Pradesh Hindu priest Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had announced the setting up of the university in the name of Pratap, who once donated land to the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), in 2019 while campaigning for by-elections for assembly in western UP. At the time, the chief minister had said even though the Jat king donated land for AMU, his name was never engraved on its walls. So, the government is building an entire university to honour him. The foundation laying event comes at a time when Jat farmers in western UP are openly venting their displeasure with the BJP government on issues like farm laws, no hikes in sugarcane prices and higher input costs for farming.

The Muslim community is protesting alongside the Jats in a show of a united front. According to media reports, any such united front could prove to be powerful enough to demolish BJP’s strongholds in western UP.

The party was the biggest beneficiary of the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013 in which over 60 people were killed.

It has since dominated the region electorally, winning 17 of the 22 Lok Sabha seats in 2019.