SHILLONG:
National People’s Party state president and lone Rajya Sabha MP W R Kharlukhi, on May 22, said that people already knew the “intention” of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) behind the job reservation policy issue.
“Although for the VPP this may only be a political issue, we are more concerned that this may have a legal implication. I would be very happy to see that instead of beating around the bush by trying to accuse the NPP of making false prophecy, which I feel is useless for them to do, people already know their intention,” Kharlukhi said.
His statement came a day after the VPP had slammed leaders of the NPP for coming up with a “false prophecy” that a change in the ratio of reservation would lead to ethnic conflict and violence.
Kharlukhi asked the VPP to look at the news items on April 1, 2023 and April 28, 2023 and said, “So that you will know the perception people have about you and what you have done to the state.”
“You keep on insisting on the job reservation policy as per resolution dated January 12, 1972 referring to the office memorandum of the government, but at the same time please don’t sidestep the first paragraph which reads in pursuance of clause 4 of Article 16 of the Constitution of India,” he said while adding “I am sure that if a wrong step or decision is made, this decision will be challenged in the court of law. The question here is whether your office memorandum will stand the scrutiny of the court against clause 4 of Article 16.”
He said that another problem that may arise is Supreme Court ruling no reservation should be beyond 50 per cent as per a nine-judge bench in 1992.
“The 10 per cent increase today is a judgment given in 2019 by the Supreme Court for the economically weaker section,” the MP added.
Referring to the VPP’s statement that it is ready for a debate on this issue, Kharlukhi said, “A very good suggestion, and I think the National Law University will be the right forum to have this debate in front of legal luminaries, respectable citizens and the media.”