PATNA: A day after the Bihar government constituted a special commission to review the political backwardness of Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), paving the way for their reservation in urban local body polls, the BJP, as well as RJD, took potshots at the Nitish Kumar government for the way the panel has been constituted. A BJP leader said on Thursday that the government is being controlled by RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Samrat Choudhary, the leader of the Opposition in Bihar Legislative Council, launched a blistering attack on the chief minister, calling him a “rubber stamp CM” and saying that the manner in which the Commission has been constituted gives a clear hint that Lalu is remote-controlling the government. Lalu is currently undergoing medical treatment in Singapore.
“A retired judge of the Supreme Court or high court should also be inducted into the commission for its proper functioning,” Choudhary said. The EBC Commission also includes state JD-U spokesperson Arvind Nishad, JD-U leader Gyanchand Patel and RJD leader Tar Keshar Thakur. It will review the political backwardness of EBCs in fixing their quota in the urban local body elections.
Bihar BJP spokesperson Arvind Singh said that by not appointing an RJD leader as the panel’s chairman, the CM has shown a mirror to his allies. He added that Nitish also exposed how he is governing Bihar like a “Talibani” ruler.
RJD leaders also expressed annoyance over the lack of proper representation in the panel. Stressing that the RJD is a major ally in the grand alliance, Rambali Chandravanshi said, “When the post of the chairman of SC/ST Commission was given to JD-U, RJD should have got it in EBC Commission.”
The state government had on Wednesday informed Patna High Court that it is going to constitute the
commission. The government had also withdrawn its review petitions, which were filed after the court had ordered that reservation of seats for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and EBCs in the state’s urban local body elections without following the triple test criteria as laid down by the Supreme Court was “illegal”.