BHOPAL: With the opposition Congress trying hard to corner Shivraj Singh Chouhan government over inability to get the High Court to stay on hike in OBC reservation vacated, the Madhya Pradesh government reiterated on Thursday, its commitment to 13% hike in OBC reservation (14% to 27%) in government jobs and admission to institutes of higher education.
The chief minister chaired a meeting of the ruling BJP’s OBC cell, comprising OBC ministers and MLAs in Bhopal on Thursday evening. The marathon meeting which continued for over three hours decided to press for the final hearing of the writ petition in the MP High Court in March 2019, challenging the decision to provide 27% reservation to OBC in government jobs and institutes of higher education in the state.
“On the next date of hearing in the matter, the state’s advocate general and top advocates, including country’s solicitor general Tushar Mehta and Ravishankar Prasad will plead the HC for final hearing in the matter and allow 27% reservation to the OBC,” senior cabinet minister Bhupendra Singh said after the meeting.
Blaming the erstwhile Kamal Nath-led Congress government for the prolonged issue, Singh said, “the previous government enacted a drama of hiking OBC reservation quota before the Lok Sabha polls on March 8, 2019. Two days later, a writ petition challenging the ordinance was filed before the HC, on which the HC through an interim order stayed the hike on March 19. On March 19, the state advocate general submitted before the court that the government wanted only 14% OBC reservation in the Public Service Commission related appointments. Also, the then state government didn’t put forward its stand in the matter subsequently, as no counsel representing the then state government appeared before the court in the matter for a year or appealed against HC’s interim stay.”
“Our government led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan is committed to 27% OBC reservation and has been strongly putting its stand before the HC. On the next date of hearing, our top advocates will argue for allowing 27% reservation to OBC through final hearing in the matter. We’ll work both on the court's as well as government level for the OBC reservation,” the minister said.
“The commitment of our government to OBC welfare is best exemplified by a separate ministry for backward caste welfare,” he maintained.
Importantly, the four-day monsoon session of MP Vidhan Sabha was adjourned sine die on the second day only on August 10, after the opposition Congress’s OBC MLAs who wore black aprons to the House, created uproar in the Assembly, accusing the BJP government of doing nothing concrete for 27% OBC reservation in the state.
With the OBCs forming around 56% of MP’s population, the Congress is particularly trying to corner the BJP government over the issue, keeping an eye on the coming by-elections to three assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat, whose dates are yet to be finalized by the Election Commission.
Importantly, all three BJP CMs in the state since 2003, including Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Uma Bharti and Babulal Gaur have been powerful OBC leaders.
On March 8, 2019 the Kamal Nath government with an eye on Lok Sabha polls, had decided to hike the 14% existing OBC quota in government jobs and admissions to institutions of higher education in the state to 27% through an ordinance.
Just two days later, medical PG course aspirants had moved the HC seeking stay against the operation of the ordinance. Nine days later on March 19, 2019, the HC had through an interim order stayed the operation of the ordinance.
The final hearing in the matter will reportedly take place in the MP High Court in the first week next month.