Jat quota rocks Assembly, forces two adjournments

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 4

The Jat reservation issue rocked the Haryana Vidhan Sabha today, forcing two adjournments amid slogans and allegations and counter-allegations by INLD and BJP members.

Raising the issue through a calling attention motion, Leader of the Opposition Abhay Chautala and other INLD members stormed into the Well of the House when Speaker Kanwarpal Gujjar disallowed the motion after initially allowing it.

Even though Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar made a statement on issue, Advocate General (AG) Baldev Raj Mahajan, in his maiden speech in the House, went into the legal aspects of the case.

Mahajan clarified that as per rules, the House had no jurisdiction to debate the issue when it was already under adjudication in the court of law. He asserted that the state government was already in the process of filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the July 27, 2015, stay order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

He made it clear that the issue of the inclusion of the Jats in the Central list of the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) lied in the domain of the Centre and not the state government.

The AG’s legal position was stoutly defended by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, senior ministers Ram Bilas Sharma and Anil Vij amid repeated interruptions by INLD and Congress members.

Even as the INLD members led by Abhay Chautala and the BJP members led by Capt Abhimanyu traded charges and counter-charges, the Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes. After the House reassembled, newly elected Deputy Speaker Santosh Yadav announced another adjournment for a similar duration.

Earlier, Abhay wanted the House to pass a resolution urging Parliament to frame a law restoring quota for the Jats and four castes, which had been stayed by the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Abhay supported Congress members Karan Dalal, Raghbir Kadian and Kiran Chaudhry.

Meanwhile, calling the Jat quota issue sensitive during the resumed discussion, Khattar urged the members to give suggestions on the issue.

While Abhay wanted Haryana to follow the Tamil Nadu model, where reservation exceeded 50 per cent, Dalal wanted Parliament to enact a law for the inclusion of the Jats in the OBC list.