Samajwadi Party says promotion quota bill unconstitutional

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party today dubbed as "unconstitutional" the bill to provide reservation in promotion for SCs and STs in government jobs and threatened to oppose the measure tooth and nail.

Soon after the introduction of the bill in Rajya Sabha amid scuffle between SP and BSP members, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said the bill is "unconstitutional in nature. We will continue to oppose it with all our might."

He said the measure will create chaos in administration. "Juniors will become seniors. Is it some kind of a joke? Running the government has become a joke," he told reporters outside Parliament House.

Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh had recently issued an ordinance to repeal an order of the previous BSP government providing reservation in promotions to SC/ST employees.

The order was also struck down by the Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court recently.

Rajya Sabha witnessed high drama as a scuffle broke out between SP and BSP members when the government introduced the Constitutional amendment bill.

The bill, which circumvents a Supreme Court order quashing such a decision of Uttar Pradesh government in April, seeks to bring certainty and clarity in the matter by substituting a clause of Article 16 of the Constitution.