RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday slammed ex-CM Raman Singh over the reservation issue in the state.
“Singh is now forgetting the stats. The total reservation quota which he had implemented was at 58 per cent, now he is saying that it was 56 per cent. The present reservation bill passed in the assembly contains a total quota of 76 per cent but he states 82 percent. The statements of both Raman Singh and Raj Bhavan are the same.”
“If Singh had to oppose the reservation bill then why didn’t he speak in the assembly? He then supported and now they are protesting. It means that the BJP doesn’t want reservations. The second thing is that Minimum Support Price (MSP) during the Congress-led UPA government between 2004 and 2014 increased by 137 percent while during BJP rule from 2014 to 2022 is only 55 percent. It clearly shows that BJP is anti-farmer,” Baghel added.
In response to the statement by Raj Bhavan on the effectiveness of Article 316 of the constitution, Baghel claimed that the governor herself was misusing her powers. He added that she had no right to ask the govt for a bill that has been passed by the assembly.
On the other hand, BJP state president Arun Sao lashed out at CM Baghel for playing “politics” on the reservation.
“Baghel is continuously doing politics in the matter of reservation and spreading confusion. We have increased the reservation quota to 58 per cent. We have increased the reservation of Scheduled Tribes from 20 to 32 per cent. The reservation decreased because of the Baghel government. In the same way, you did the drama of reservation for the backward classes. Earlier, when the reservation issue was in court, the congress government sent its party workers to cancel out the issue.”