PM Modi reacts after Calcutta High Court cancels OBC certificates
Prime Minister Narendra Modi rained blows on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) after the Calcutta High Court cancelled all Other Backward Classes certificates (OBC) issued in West Bengal after 2010 on Wednesday. He called the verdict a "slap to the Khan Market gang," which is a term used by him and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to deride their political opponents. "Today, Calcutta High Court has given a huge slap to the INDI alliance," PM Modi stated at a poll rally.
Why does this story matter?
A division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha struck down the OBC certificates issued after 2010 finding them to be illegal. The judgment is a blow to the ruling TMC government, which came to power in West Bengal in 2011, as the judgment effectively invalidates all OBC certificates issued during its regime. The ruling is set to affect five lakh OBC certificates.
PM Modi accuses Bengal government of vote bank politics
Reacting to the ruling, PM Modi said the TMC government inexplicably issued OBC certificates to Muslims only for the vote bank. "They say...Muslims have the first right on the country's resources. These people are continuously giving government lands to the Waqf Board and asking for votes in return. These people want to reserve 15% of the country's budget for minorities," he said. He also alleged that the TMC wants to give loans from banks and government tender based on religion.
PM Modi alleges opposition's misuse of government lands
He further accused the opposition of opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and laws against triple talaq to please their vote bank. "That is why they have come together to form INDI alliance," PM Modi said. "The Khan Market gang has only one way now: Every time Modi uses 'Muslim', label it as communal politics. I am exposing the communal politics of the Opposition and then their entire ecosystem shouts 'Modi is doing Hindu-Muslim politics'," he added.
High Court verdict on West Bengal's reservation act
The high court delivered the verdict on petitions challenging the provisions of West Bengal's Reservation Act of 2012 and reservations granted in 2010. It struck down 77 classes of reservation given between April-September 2010, and 37 classes created based on the Act of 2012. However, it clarified that the order will not affect the services of citizens of the ejected classes who are already in service, have benefitted from reservation, or have succeeded in any selection process of the state.
