Dehradun: Some BJP legislators belonging to reserved seats are said to be “disturbed” by the impact of the government’s move on SC/ST communities who were availing the benefit of reservation in promotion in the hill state.
The state has 15 reserved assembly constituencies and one parliamentary constituency, and reservation in promotion has always been a thorny subject. Party sources told TOI that senior BJP leaders have been always “divided over the matter”.
BJP legislator Khajan Das said, “I am a staunch supporter of the reservation in promotion which was in practise earlier in Uttarakhand. I will again take up the matter with CM and senior members of the core committee.”
Das did not comment on political impact the government’s decision would cause but hinted at the low political dividends. “The decision will antagonise the reserved category across the state and may send a negative signal,” Das said.
Another BJP legislator Deshraj Karnwal viewed the decision as a personal setback. “I am personally saddened by the development. In the state assembly, I had supported the reservation in promotion but today I do not know how to react on this development,” said Karnwal.
BJP spokesperson and MLA Munna Singh Chauhan said, “The state government will take care of the interest of all government employees in Uttarakhand.”
Meanwhile, some BJP MLAs had been putting pressure on the CM to accede to the protesting employees’ demands of scraping the reservation in promotion.