RANCHI: State labour minister Satyanand Bhokta has found himself in a spot after Union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda tabled the Constitution (Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe) Orders (Amendments) Bill in the Lok Sabha, which proposes to notify the Scheduled Caste Bhokta community as Scheduled Tribes, earlier this week.
The bill also proposes to induct Kharwar and Deshawari communities into the ST list.
The bill has made Satyanand worry about his political career. An MLA of Lalu Prasad’s RJD, Satyanand was elected to the state assembly in 2019 from the Chatra assembly seat. Chatra is among the five seats in the 81-member strong assembly which is reserved for SC candidates.
“The Bhokta community has been representing the area in erstwhile Bihar and subsequently in the Jharkhand assembly since 1985. Our population is primarily concentrated in Chatra, Latehar and Simaria assembly seats. With the community being accorded ST status, we will not be able to contest in these seats and our community will head for extinction,” Bhokta rued before news channels and web media platforms on Thursday.
The 51-year-old lawmaker also termed the move as a well-planned political “conspiracy”. “If the community is being moved to ST, then the SC seats must also be converted into ST seats. The community did not ask for ST status in the first place. We oppose the decision,” he said.
