Rebel BJP MLA warns that Rajasthan HC will strike down bill granting 5% quota to Gujjars

Jaipur: Rebel BJP MLA in Rajasthan Ghanshyam Tiwari on Saturday opposed the Vasundhara Raje government’s decision to raise OBC reservation from 21 to 26 percent for granting five percent reservation to Gujjars and four other castes, saying it would be struck down by the court. He said that if the proposed bill is challenged and struck down by the court like the previous SBC reservation bill, all the castes under the OBC would suffer. [caption id="" align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of a Gujjar agitation. AFP[/caption] “The bill which the government is going to introduce for increasing OBC quota to grant reservation to Gujjars and other castes will exceed the 50 percent legal ceiling. It may be struck down by the court and if this happens, all the castes getting OBC reservation will suffer,” he said. Tiwari said that the government should also take initiatives to provide reservation to economically backward people of the upper caste. The government has assured the Gujjar leaders that the OBC quota will be split after increasing it to 26 percent to grant them 5 percent reservation. A bill to this effect will be introduced in the upcoming Monsoon session for which a consensus was arrived at on Thursday night at a meeting of the cabinet subcommittee with the Gujjar delegation. The total reservation in the state stands at 49 percent at present and this is set to once again crossed the 50 percent legal ceiling. In May this year, the state government had issued a notification to re-include five castes of Gujjar/Gurjar, Banjara/Baldia/Labana, Gadia-Lohar/Gadalia, Raika/Rebari and Gadaria (Gaadri), in the OBC list. These castes were first included in the OBC list in 1994. The castes were re-included in OBC after state High Court in December last year struck down the Special Backward Class (SBC) Reservation Act, 2015, which provided special backward class status to these five castes. Tiwari has been criticising Raje and the BJP leadership after show cause notices were served on him by the party’s national disciplinary committee in May last. The notices were sent after the BJP MLA alleged that the Rajasthan unit of the saffron party had become a place for the “mafia and sycophants” while the dedicated, loyal and qualified people were being “sidelined”. He had also called Raje the “queen of indiscipline”.