Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh University in Aligarh could help BJP's Jat outreach

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday lay the foundation stone of the Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Aligarh, a move seen by many as important to the BJP's outreach to Jats ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections.
The university is being established by the state government in the memory and honour of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh, a freedom fighter, educationist and social reformer.

Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh, who belonged to the district, was an alumnus of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and was also the president of India's first provisional government-in-exile established on December 1, 1915 in Kabul.

The government's decision to set up the university after the noted Jat figure is being politically seen as part of the ruling BJP's bid to win over the community ahead of the crucial assembly polls.

The PM is expected to announce courses related to defence studies and training at the university, a TOI report said quoting sources. This would help students from the region to get absorbed in units being set up in the defence corridor between Chitrakoot and Aligarh, extending to Bulandshahar in the west and Lucknow in central UP.

The establishment of a defense industrial corridor in Uttar Pradesh was announced by Modi while inaugurating the UP investors summit in Lucknow on February 21, 2018.

The university is being set up in an area spread over Lodha and Musepur Kareem Jarouli villages of Aligarh's Kol tehsil. It will provide affiliation to 395 colleges of the Aligarh division.

The PM's visit comes at a time the Jats, who form a who form a sizeable population in the region, are seen to be aggrieved with the BJP over the issues of farmers.