A high power committee constituted by the state government under the chairmanship of Secretary Tribal Welfare D.D. Singh has reportedly cancelled all the caste related certificates of former chief minister and Janta Congress Chhattisgarh Jogi (JCC-J) supremo Ajit Jogi.
Commenting on the decision of the committee, Jogi said it was pre-decided and was prejudiced. “The committee was influenced by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and had come out with a decision which was intended by Baghel”, he said.
Terming the matter politically motivated Jogi said the issue was raised after he joined politics and that no one raised the issue till he was in Indian Administrative Services.
He further asserted that he (Jogi) was already apprehending the decision and that’s why he had already approached the court. The issue of his caste is already under the purview of the High Court of Chhattisgarh and Supreme Court and he will also challenge the recent high powered committee’s decision there, he said.
Meanwhile as per sources, following the cancellation of his caste certificates by the committee Jogi will from now onwards will no longer be able to take the benefit of being scheduled tribe.
Congress state general secretary Shailesh Nitin Trivedi on the other hand termed the allegations of Jogi baseless. It was only because of Jogi’s nexus with the erstwhile Raman Singh-led government that the issue was lingering.
He alleged that the previous government intentionally committed processional errors to benefit Jogi whose party acted as ‘B’ tem of the BJP in 2018 state assembly elections.