Raipur: The conflict between the state government and the Raj Bhavan is expected to increase over the reservation bills passed by the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly. Four days after the bill was passed, the Governor has not signed it yet. Meanwhile, Food and Culture Minister Amarjeet Bhagat along with a delegation met Governor Anusuiya Uikey. He has urged the governor to sign the reservation bills. Amarjeet said that she has assured to sign in a day or two.
In the special session of the Vidhan Sabha, on October 2, two amendment bills were passed to decide the new ratio of reservation. After the bill was passed, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ravindra Choubey, Law Minister Mohammad Akbar, Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma, Food Minister Amarjit Bhagat, and Urban Administration Minister Shiv Dahria reached the Raj Bhavan the same night. There they met Governor Anusuiya Uikey and requested her signature by handing over copies of both the bills passed in the assembly. At that time, the Governor had said to take action as per the rules.
The next day, in a conversation with the media, the governor said that she would sign it by Monday. Throughout the day on Monday, the team of legal advisors and officers of Raj Bhavan were engaged in reviewing the bill. On Tuesday, the Governor called Kamalpreet, the Secretary General of the Administration Department, and discussed the matter.
On September 19, the Chhattisgarh High Court rejected the ongoing 58% reservation in Chhattisgarh as unconstitutional while giving its verdict in the Guru Ghasidas Sahitya Evam Sanskriti Academy case. Since then there is no reservation roster left for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes in Chhattisgarh.
To get out of this situation, the government convened a special session of the Vidhan Sabha on December 1-2 and passed two amendment bills related to reservation. In this, the reservation was increased to 76% and arrangements have been made to give 13% reservation to Scheduled Castes, 32% to Scheduled Tribes, 27% to Other Backward Classes and 4% to economically weaker sections. Due to the absence of the signature of the Governor, this bill is not able to become law.