Bhopal: A high-powered committee constituted by Chhattisgarh government has ruled that former chief minister Ajit Jogi is not a tribal.
The panel headed by secretary of Chhattisgarh scheduled tribe and scheduled caste department, D.D. Singh has also ordered the authorities concerned to withdraw status of tribal accorded to Mr Jogi.
The committee has been constituted following a directive by the Chhattisgarh high court in February, 2018. The panel has submitted its report to Bilashpur high court in Chhattisgarh.
In its 27-page report, the panel said Mr Jogi had failed to establish his tribal status and ordered the Bilashpur district collector to initiate action under the Chhattisgarh Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes (OBC) Rules, 2013 following the development.
Mr Jogi’s tribal status has been challenged in various courts in the past two and half decades.
The first chief minister of Chhattisgarh who had broken away from Congress in 2016 to float his new party, Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC), faced the prospect of losing his membership in the Chhattisgarh Assembly following the development.
The JCC currently has five MLAs including Mr Jogi.
Mr Jogi however accused Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel of influencing the panel to declare him non-tribal.
“I will challenge the panel’s recommendation in the court”, he told reporters in Raipur.
