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Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday termed the SC/ST quota Bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha as unconstitutional, saying the ruling Congress party is at the moment making a mockery as the Bill will disturb seniority among government employees. Mulayam Singh said he would approach the general public of the country and lodge a protest in this regard. "This is unconstitutional. The bill was introduced and no one came to know about it. We will go to the people against this. The Congress Party will have to face the consequences then. This is a promotion to make junior a senior and vice versa. They (government) are making a mockery of rules. Are they running the government or making a joke? Is it constitutional to make junior a senior and a senior a junior?" asked Yadav. "They have not spoken to us before introducing the bill. They knew what would be the outcome had they spoken to us," he added, when asked that the Samajwadi Party was supporting the UPA Government from outside. Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy tabled the bill, which seeks to provide Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes quota in promotion in government jobs, in the Rajya Sabha earlier today amidst uproar by the opposition parties. The Rajya Sabha witnessed a very chaotic situation, as the lawmakers belonging to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) clashed with each other soon after the bill was tabled. BSP leader Naresh Agarwal and SP leader Avtar Singh pushed each other and exchanged blows inside the house. The BJP, which has stalled Parliament for 10 days now over the coal allocation issue, has alleged that the government is using the quota bill to divide the opposition. The proposed Bill approved by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday seeks to provide a reserved jobs quota for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), and seeks to amend at least four articles of the Constitution to enable the government to provide a quota in promotions to SC/STs. It seeks to remove the term inadequate representation, mentioned in Article 16(4) to justify reservation in promotion and appointments, and also delink the term efficiency of administration from the claims of SCs/STs for jobs and promotions, mentioned in Article 335. Changes are also likely to be made in articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution, following the advice of the government's top law officer, Attorney General, G.E. Vahanvati, on the issue.

Mulayam says SC/ST quota Bill unconstitutional