Sushil Modi Patna: BJP Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi on Sunday demanded Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's resignation for the injustice meted out to Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) in local bodies.
Modi, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, alleged that Kumar's attitude led to the Patna High Court scrapping the reservation given to the EBCs in elections for the state's local bodies.
Modi told media persons here that the Supreme Court in its series of judgements had clearly directed all states to constitute a dedicated commission to identify the political backwardness of castes who were to be given reservation in panchayats and local bodies elections.
Even Advocate General of Bihar Lalit Kishor had advised the state government to constitute a dedicated commission to identify castes for giving reservations to them in local bodies elections, he added.
"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was not prepared to constitute a dedicated commission to identify castes who were politically backward and under his pressure, the Advocate General was forced to change his legal opinion earlier given to state government", the BJP leader said.
He alleged that under pressure from Kumar, the State Election Commission issued a notification setting local bodies elections in motion in Bihar, but the Patna High Court scrapped reservation to EBCs in local bodies due to the non-compliance of earlier directives of the Supreme Court.
The Patna High Court order forced the Bihar government to stop the election process midway and a huge amount spent by candidates was wasted, he pointed out and demanded the government compensate the monetary losses incurred by contesting candidates.
Modi demanded Kumar's immediate resignation for his "failure" to make foolproof arrangements for reservation to EBCs in local bodies. He also demanded immediate election to the local bodies having provision of reservation for EBCs and said it was for the state government to take required steps in this direction.
He said the state could approach the Supreme Court or constitute a dedicated commission to identify the backwardness of castes who were to be given reservations in local bodies.
The BJP leader said the Nitish Kumar government failed in triple tests as required under the Supreme Court order to provide reservations to EBCs in local bodies. Constitution of a dedicated commission to identify political backwardness of castes, ascertaining proportion of their reservation in local bodies by the commission and also ensuring that under no circumstances total reservation could not exceed 50 percent limit, were three components of the triple tests, he pointed out.
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