Raipur: The alleged tussle between Chhattisgarh Governor Anusuiya Uikey and the Congress dispensation over two reservation amendment bills likely to intensify as the former has expressed dissatisfaction over the reply submitted by the state government on the queries related to it.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday claimed that the governor was acting under pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and looking for excuses to delay the process of giving assent to bills.
The state Assembly on December 3 passed the bills - Chhattisgarh Public Service (Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes Reservation) Amendment Bill and Chhattisgarh Educational Institutions (Reservation in admission) amendment bill related to quota in government jobs and admission in educational institutions in proportion to the population of different categories in the state.
According to the bills, the Scheduled Tribe will get a quota of 32 per cent, Other Backward Classes 27 per cent, Scheduled Caste 13 per cent and four per cent has been provisioned for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), taking the overall reservation in the state to 76 per cent. The governor had sought details on 10 points from the state government before giving her assent to bills, to which the state government submitted its reply last week.
Sources in the Governor House told PTI on Wednesday, "The governor was dissatisfied with the state government's reply as it failed to clarify the queries raised by her."
Even the state government did not provide the report of Quantifiable Data Commission (constituted for survey of Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) population) based on which quota of the concerned section was fixed, they said. Meanwhile, Baghel hit out at the governor blaming her for the alleged delay in approval.
"We replied to her (governor) queries. I know she will not be satisfied and she will again raise questions. If I answer them too, questions will come again. This clearly indicates that she will neither return the bills nor send them to the President..," the CM said. "she wants to delay (the process of giving assent) and does not want to implement it...The ceiling of 50 per cent for reservation has already crossed after Parliament introduced 10 per cent EWS reservation. Then why would there be a hindrance in it (approving overall reservation of 76 per cent in Chhattisgarh)," he said. The BJP should tell whether it supports or opposes quota, Baghel said. "When will BJP leaders urge the Governor House to sign the bills? The governor has not given her assent under pressure from the BJP," he added. (PTI)
