JD(S) supports bill for 10 per cent quota for poor in general category: H.D Devegouda
Bengaluru, Jan 8: JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda extended support Tuesday to the Centre's move towards providing a 10-per cent quota in government jobs and education for the "economically weaker" sections.
"Janata Dal (Secular) supports the 10 per cent reservation in jobs and educational institutions for economically weaker sections of the upper castes," he said in a tweet.
"We have always stood for, and will continue to stand for betterment of the underprivileged and weaker sections of the society," the veteran leader added.
The JD(S) has two Lok Sabha members from Karnataka, including Deve Gowda.
In a major move ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Union Cabinet on Monday cleared a 10 per cent quota in government jobs and education for "economically weaker" sections, meeting a key demand of the upper castes, a staunch support base of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has shown signs of a drift from the saffron party.
The Congress has dubbed the move as an "election gimmick". The JD(S) is in power in Karnataka in an alliance with the Congress.
The proposed reservation will be over and above the existing 50 per cent reservation enjoyed by the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, and will take the total reservation to 60 per cent.
The Narendra Modi government tabled a bill in this regard in Parliament on Tuesday, which for the first time aimed to provide for non-caste, non-religion-based reservation.
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Followed poll processes transparently, will review all legitimate concerns: EC to Cong
New Delhi (PTI): The Election Commission on Saturday asserted that all poll procedures it followed in Maharashtra were transparent and assured that it would review all legitimate concerns flagged by the Congress, which alleged serious inconsistencies.
In its interim response to the party, the poll authority invited a Congress delegation on December 3 to discuss concerns expressed by it.
The Congress on Friday raised with the Election Commission "serious and grave inconsistencies" which it said were being revealed in the data relating to the polling and counting processes for the recently-concluded Maharashtra Assembly polls and sought an in-person hearing to present relevant evidence.
In the response, the EC reiterated that the process was transparent with the involvement of candidates or their agents at every stage.
The commission also assured of a review of the Congress' legitimate concerns and a written response after hearing the party's delegation in person.
It asserted that a transparent electoral roll updation process was undertaken with the involvement of all political parties.
Responding to the issue regarding the voter turnout data, the EC asserted that there was no discrepancy in it and the data was available with all candidates polling station-wise and is verifiable.
The gap in the 5 pm polling data and the final voter turnout was due to procedural priorities, as presiding officers perform multiple statutory duties near the close of polling before updating the voter turnout data.
As an additional disclosure measure, an EC press note at around 11:45 pm was introduced during the 2024 Lok Sabha election and followed subsequently during all assembly polls thereafter, the poll body told the Congress.
