Bhopal: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has called a meeting of other backward class (OBC) leaders at state secretariat on Thursday over raising the quota from existing 14% to 27%. The meeting follows Tuesday ruckus by Congress in Assembly, forcing Speaker Girish Gautam to adjourn the House sine die curtailing four-day Monsoon Session by two days.
Further strategy of the government and programmes would be decided in the meeting, as per information. The Treasury benches and Opposition traded charges on the issue in the state assembly. After Congress protest, chief minister had said on Tuesday, “Kamal Nath should tell us what he did to maintain the enhanced reservation. The fact remains that the Congress believes in hypocrisy on tribal issues. The petition against the reservation was filed on March 10, 2019 and the high court granted stay on March 19. The then Congress government didn’t send its advocate general to the court to defend the decision on enhanced reservation. Thus, Congress betrayed the OBC.” As per the CM secretariat those invited for the meeting include OBC ministers of Chouhan Cabinet namely Mohan Yadv, Kamal Patel, Ramkhilawan Patel and Bharat Singh Kushwah along with several BJP MLAs from the OBC. Advocate general of the state and several other legal experts would also attend the meeting.