Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], August 28 : An all-party meeting convened by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav began at the Chief Minister's residence in Bhopal on Thursday regarding the implementation of 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state.
Leaders from various political parties including ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Communist Party of India (CPI), and Gondwana Ganatantra Party (GGP) participated in the meeting.
Among the key attendees are Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal, Congress state president Jitu Patwari, Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar, State Backward Classes Commission chairman Ramkumar Kusmaria, BSP state president Mannalal Patel, AAP state president Rani Agarwal, CPI state secretary Arvind Srivastava, GGP state president Tuleshwar Singh Markam, SP state president Manoj Yadav, former PCC chief Arun Yadav, MP Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Prahlad Patel, MP from Satna Ganesh Singh and MP Minister Krishna Gaur.
The meeting comes amid growing demands from opposition parties to ensure the timely implementation of the OBC reservation in the state. While the government has expressed its intent to uphold 27% reservation, the opposition is demanding to implement it at earliest.
After the meeting, CM Yadav said, "Today, the state government has called an all-party meeting regarding the OBC reservation issue in which, CPI, AAP, SP, Congress, BJP and others participated. All the opposition parties and the BJP had said in the state assembly that everyone was unanimously ready for providing 27 percent OBC reservation in the state. The matter is pending in the court but now the Supreme Court has decided to hold a day-to-day hearing over the issue from September 22. Now, lawyers from both ruling and opposition should sit together and decide the further move. We all sit together today again for our past agreement over granting the reservation."
"We have also passed an all-party resolution to implement the OBC reservation. We all want to resolve the issue at earliest and provide its benefits to the students. On the sentiment of all parties, we sat together and made the decision," he added.