Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The BJP and the Congress traded charges after the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday struck down the 2019 law that had raised reservation for Other Backward Classes from 14 per cent to 27 per cent, restoring it to 14 per cent.
The court held that the increase was unconstitutional and against the 50 per cent reservation ceiling set by the Supreme Court, and said there were no extraordinary circumstances to justify it. The verdict triggered sharp political reactions, with the Congress accusing the ruling party of acting against OBC interests and the BJP blaming the earlier Kamal Nath government for flaws in the 2019 exercise.
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State Congress president Jitu Patwari accused the BJP government and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav of conspiring against OBCs. He said the Congress would challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court and continue its fight for 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in the state.
BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal rejected the charge and said the Kamal Nath-led Congress government had prepared the documents in 2019 in haste and without verifying the facts. Speaking to reporters in Indore, Khandelwal said he had discussed the verdict with Chief Minister Yadav and added that the state government had held a meeting on Friday to decide the next steps. “The BJP is committed to OBC reservation, and the state government will take all necessary steps in this regard,” he said.
Former Madhya Pradesh State Backward Classes Commission chairman J P Dhanopia alleged that the verdict reflected the state government’s “ill intentions”. He claimed the government had failed to present the facts effectively before the court, depriving OBCs of the benefits of 27 per cent reservation.
OBCs account for more than 50 per cent of Madhya Pradesh’s population, and Assembly polls are due in the state in late 2028. The BJP has been in power in the state since 2003, except for the 15-month period between December 2018 and March 2020 when Kamal Nath was chief minister. The party’s chief ministers over the past two-and-a-half decades — Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and incumbent Mohan Yadav — have all been from the OBC segment. The court’s order has now set off a fresh political battle over reservation in the state.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
