RJD slams Bihar govt, Centre after SC notice on 65 pc reservation issue

Patna, Sep 7 (IANS) A day after the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Centre and the Bihar government over a plea challenging the Patna High Court's order striking down a hike in reservation in Bihar to 65 per cent, RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan on Saturday criticised the role of both the state and Central governments in the matter.

After Bills increasing reservation quota from 50 per cent to 65 per cent for Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes were passed unanimously in the Bihar Assembly and the Legislative Council, the Patna High Court on June 20 struck down the hike after petitioners approached it challenging the constitutional validity of the amendments.

The high court had called the increase in reservation quota "ultra vires" of the Constitution, "bad in law", and "violative of the equality clause". The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had moved the apex court against the high court's verdict.

RJD leader Gagan said on Saturday that the Supreme Court notice highlights the 'suspicious' actions of the Centre and the Bihar government concerning the reservation issue.

“The RJD stands on one side, while the BJP and the JD-U are on the other side on this issue,” he said.

“Nitish Kumar has changed his stance on reservation after allying with the BJP. He previously supported reservation due to RJD's pressure, but shifted his stance to align with the BJP and appease Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah,” the RJD spokesman claimed.

In July, the Bihar government had also moved the top court against the Patna High Court order, but the SC bench had refused to impose a stay.

On Friday, a bench comprising CJI D.Y. Chandrachud and justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra issued a notice to the Bihar government and the Centre, tagging the RJD's petition with the pending appeal of the Bihar government.

“The Bihar government did not defend the increased 65 per cent reservation during the proceedings in the Patna High Court deliberately to appease the BJP. The lack of defence resulted in the Patna High Court ruling against the amendments,” Gagan said.

He also claimed that the actions of the state government exposed the two-faced politics of the BJP on reservations, as well as JD-U's role as its 'puppet'.

Gagan further claimed that the people of Bihar and the country now see RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as the true warrior for the rights of Dalits, backward classes, and tribal communities.

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