Chhattisgarh Governor Anusuiya Uikey who blocked the OBC reservation bill and put the opposition BJP in an awkward situation, has been transferred to Manipur. She will be replaced by former Odisha minister and veteran leader Bishwa Bhushan Harichandan.
Uikey, a tribal leader from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh has been at loggerheads with Bhupesh Baghel led Congress government in Chhattisgarh during her more than three years in office. However, the fact that brought unease among the opposition BJP leaders was her blocking the SC-ST-OBC reservation (Amendment) bill that was unanimously passed by the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly on December 2 last year.
She withheld the bill and refused to sign it despite the Congress government’s repeated allegations of her decision being politically motivated. The fiasco, BJP leaders cheered initially, turned out to be a breeding ground for the Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s aggressive identity politics.
Baghel and his party claimed that she withheld the bill at the behest of opposition BJP to thwart efforts by his government to ensure 13% reservation to SC, 32% to ST, 27 OBC and 4 to EWS categories, thus raising the total reservation to 76% in Chhattisgarh. Governor countered the allegation saying the bill would again meet the fate of an earlier legislation by Raman Singh led government which had raised the reservation limit to 56%. The Chhattisgarh High Court had struck the legislation in November last year on the grounds that it breached the 50% ceiling for reservation.
BJP leaders grew restless as the war between the Raj Bhawan and the Congress government intensified. The saffron clique was anxious that Congress supporters were portraying the party leadership as an impediment to OBC reservation. The brouhaha turned even murkier when billboards sprang across the capital city claiming that Raj Bhawan was shifted to BJP office ‘Ekatm Parisar’.