Bhubaneswar : In a major political decision the Ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha
on Friday announced 27 per cent reservation of party tickets for candidates belonging to the Socially
& Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) in the coming Panchayat and subsequent elections in the State.
Odisha Cooperation Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain and Higher Education Minister Arun Sahu announced the decision of the party at a press conference here.
Mr Sahu said BJD Chief and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took the decision to reserve 27 per
cent of the party tickets for SEBC in the coming Panchayat and subsequent elections.
Both Mr Swain and Mr Sahu claimed that BJD is the first party in the country to take such a
decision and asked the BJP and the Congress to learn it from them.
The opposition BJP and the Congress described the announcement as a politically motivated move keeping the coming Panchayat election in view and said if the BJD government has any concern for
the OBC then it should first implement a 27 percent reservation for them in education and jobs.
Senior BJP leader P Harichandan said the 27 percent party ticket for SEBC is nothing but a political move of the BJD keeping the coming Panchayat election in view .
