Bhopal, Oct 9 (PTI) The ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress attacked each other after the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday nixed the 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and restored it to 14 per cent.
The High Court struck down the 2019 law raising OBC reservation from 14 per cent to 27 per cent, holding it unconstitutional and contrary to the 50 per cent reservation ceiling laid down by the Supreme Court. The court said there were no extraordinary circumstances to justify the increase.
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 hit back claiming the Kamal Nath-led Congress government had prepared documents in 2019 in haste and without verifying the facts.
Speaking to reporters in Indore, Khandelwal said he had discussed the verdict with CM Yadav, adding 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 asserted.
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.
Incidentally, OBCs account for more than 50 per cent of the population of MP, where assembly polls will be held in late 2028.
The BJP has been in power in the state since 2003, barring a 15-month period between December 2018 and March 2020 when Kamal Nath was chief minister.
The BJP’s chief ministers in the past two-and-half decades, Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and incumbent Mohan Yadav, have all been from the OBC segment. PTI HWP LAL BNM
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