The Janata Dal (United) on Monday wrote to Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu demanding a hike in the quotas extended to Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes.
Jharkhand JD(U) chief Salkhan Murmu issued the letter in Ranchi, appending a copy of the party's political resolution to the effect adopted last week.
Salkhand Murmu said, in view of the 10 per cent quotas for the economically weaker sections introduced by the Centre, the cap of 50 per cent fixed on reservations for STs, SCs and OBCs has been, in effect, done away with.
"We, therefore, hold the view that the state cabinet's decision of September 01, 2001, proposing 73 per cent quotas (STs 32 per cent, SCs 14 per cent and OBCs 27 per cent) can now withstand judicial scrutiny. The same must be brought into effect besides 10 per cent quotas for economically weaker sections," he said.
Through the letter, a copy of which was made available here, the Jharkhand JD(U) chief also sought an appointment with the governor on September 17 so that a party delegation could call on her and personally hand over a memorandum containing the demand.
Headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) has announced that it will be contesting all the assembly seats in Jharkhand which is ruled by its alliance partner BJP and where the assembly polls are due in a few months.
The JD(U) has been asserting that its tie-up with the BJP was confined only to Bihar and, after having been recognized as a state-level party in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, it is striving to achieve recognition on a national level by contesting assembly polls on its own in Jharkhand, Haryana and Delhi.
The party had adopted its political resolution in presence of Kumar at Ranchi on Saturday in which, among other things, the JD(U) had lambasted the BJP government in Jharkhand for "adopting a development model based on acquisition of land to facilitate big capitalists, forcing the Adivasis to migrate to far-off places in search of livelihood and shelter."
In the resolution, the JD(U) had also condemned the Raghubar Das government for "shutting down schools, while setting up liquor shops unlike in Bihar where our government has imposed prohibition and inspiring the entire country to enforce ban on consumption of alcohol".
The party had also charged the Jharkhand Murti Morcha and its leaders Shibu Soren and Hemant Soren of having "failed to protect the interests of the state's tribal population and uphold their cultural dignity".
The party had asserted that Nitish Kumar's model of "development with justice" and zero tolerance for "crime, corruption and communalism" posited the JD(U) as a "viable alternative" for the people of the state.
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