“The Congress had promised to give us 5 per cent reservation. So we have said they should give it before the Lok Sabha elections,” Kirodi Singh Bainsla, convener of Gurjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, said on Monday. (Source: File Photo) “The Congress had promised to give us 5 per cent reservation. So we have said they should give it before the Lok Sabha elections,” Kirodi Singh Bainsla, convener of Gurjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, said on Monday. (Source: File Photo)

Just over a fortnight since a Congress-led government took office in Rajasthan, Gurjar outfits in the state have reminded the party about its pre-election promise of providing 5-per cent reservation to the community — and provide it before next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

Otherwise, a community leader said, they will not back the party in the General Election.

The Congress manifesto had assured 5 per cent reservation for Gurjars and other communities such as Raika, Banjara and Gadia Luhar.

“The Congress had promised to give us 5 per cent reservation. So we have said they should give it before the Lok Sabha elections,” Kirodi Singh Bainsla, convener of Gurjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, said on Monday.

At present, the Gurjar community in Rajasthan is entitled to 21 per cent reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, along with 1 per cent quota under the Most Backward Classes (MBC) category.

“In the past, repeated attempts to give us 5 per cent reservation have failed since the courts have time and again stayed the laws that took the reservation limit past the 50-per cent cap imposed by the Supreme Court,” advocate Shailendra Singh, general secretary of the outfit, said.

The community is now demanding that the provision for 5 per cent reservation is made within the 50 per cent limit.

Singh said, “In our recent meeting with community leaders after the Congress came to power, we felt that the only way to get 5 per cent reservation is through sub-categorisation of OBC – it will then be within the 50-per cent limit. The Gurjar community supported and voted for the Congress in the Assembly elections but if it doesn’t provide reservation before the Lok Sabha elections, we will not support it. We will stage protests.”

In October 2017, the state government had passed The Rajasthan Backward Classes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions in the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) Bill.

The proposed law offered 5 per cent reservation.

But the Rajasthan High Court stayed the Bill in November last year, which propelled the government to offer 1 per cent reservation under the MBC category, raising the total reservation cap in the state to 50 percent.

Anything further will now exceed the limit set by the Supreme Court.

In 2009, 2013, 2016 and 2017, the court has stayed several laws – brought in subsequent Congress and BJP governments – to provide 5 per cent reservation to Gurjars because the total percentage of quota exceeded the SC-imposed limit. Providing reservation to Gurjars through sub-categorisation of OBC would mean reducing the share of reservation currently available to various communities in the OBC list.

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