Raipur: Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister MLA Ajit Jogi is likely to lose his tribal reserved Marwahi seat in the state Assembly after a high-powered government committee ruled that he does not qualify as a Scheduled Tribe member and ordered the revocation of his tribal certificates.
This comes as a jolt to Jogi who, for nearly two decades, has been fighting to prove his and his family's Scheduled Tribe status.
Jogi, in his reaction to the yet-unpublished findings, said they were false and alleged that the committee was influenced by the Congress government in the state.
The high-powered certification scrutiny committee was formed on the order of the Chhattisgarh High Court in 2018.
The panel, headed by D D Singh, Secretary, Tribal and Scheduled Caste Development Department, finalised the report last week, a senior government official said here.
It concluded that Jogi failed to substantiate his claim of being member of Kanwar community, a Scheduled Tribe, and hence all the caste certificates declaring him to be a tribal stand cancelled, the official said, quoting the report.
The committee also authorised Bilaspur Collector to carry out necessary proceedings under the Chhattisgarh Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Classes (Regulation of Social Status Certification) Rules, 2013, the official said.
Besides, it ordered confiscation of all caste certificates issued to Jogi in the past, he added.