Patna: RJD on Monday demanded in the assembly that the reservation quotas should be increased to 85 percent for various social groups in government jobs and admission to educational institutions.
Carrying placards at the main entrance of the House, RJD MLAs raised slogans demanding hike in the reservation quotas and also implementation of UGC Equity Regulations 2026. The opposition MLAs also called the Nitish Kumar government "anti-reservation", contending that the reservation quotas should be fixed in proportion to the respective population of various social groups. MLAs alleged that the government was adopting a double standard on the reservation issue and was violating the rights of the backward classes. RJD MLA Bhai Virendra said that the government should immediately implement 85 percent reservation and send a proposal to the central government. If the government brings such a proposal, the entire opposition will support it, he added.
Inside the assembly, MLAs from the RJD and other opposition parties stormed into the well of the house, carrying posters with slogans demanding an increase in the reservation quotas. The opposition parties asked the government to clarify its position on the issue. Opposition legislators contended that their agitation would continue until the government increased the reservation quotas to 85 percent and took concrete steps to include it in the 9th Schedule of the constitution. In November 2023, Bihar government passed two amendment bills to increase the reservation quota for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) from 50 percent to 65 percent. Later, Patna High Court invalidated the state government’s amendments aimed at increasing reservation. RJD has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against HC`s order.
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Meanwhile, MLAs from union minister Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (RV) created ruckus in the house, accusing the RJD of insulting party founder late Ram Vilas Paswan. RJD MLA Kumar Sarvajeet had called Ram Vilas ‘bechara’ in the house last week.
On the other hand, Sarvjeet told reporters outside the assembly that Chirag Paswan has been maintaining a deafening silence on numerous assaults on the rights of SCs, STs and OBCs by the BJP-led government at the Centre and things would not have come to this pass had the late Ram Vilas Paswan been alive.
