MP High Court Scraps 27% OBC Quota, BJP and Congress Blame Each Other

The ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress traded accusations on Friday after the Madhya Pradesh High Court struck down the law providing 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state and restored the quota to 14 per cent.

The High Court quashed the 2019 legislation that increased OBC reservation from 14 per cent to 27 per cent, holding it unconstitutional and contrary to the 50 per cent reservation ceiling prescribed by the Supreme Court. The court observed that no extraordinary circumstances had been established to justify the increase.

Reacting to the verdict, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari accused the BJP government and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav of conspiring against OBCs. He said the Congress would challenge the decision in the Supreme Court and continue its fight for 27 per cent reservation in the state.

BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal blamed the previous Congress government, led by Kamal Nath, for preparing the legislation in 2019 in haste and without adequately verifying the facts.

Speaking to reporters in Indore, Khandelwal said he had discussed the verdict with Chief Minister Yadav. He added that the state government had held a meeting on Friday to decide its next course of action.

"The BJP is committed to OBC reservation, and the state government will take all necessary steps in this regard," he said.

Former Madhya Pradesh State Backward Classes Commission chairman J P Dhanopia also criticised the government, alleging that the verdict reflected its "ill intentions". He claimed the state government had failed to effectively present the relevant facts before the court, depriving OBCs of the benefits of the higher quota.

The ruling has renewed the political debate over reservation in Madhya Pradesh, where OBCs account for more than 50 per cent of the population.

Assembly elections in the state are scheduled for late 2028. The BJP has been in power since 2003, except for a 15-month period between December 2018 and March 2020, when Kamal Nath headed the Congress government.