Madhya Pradesh government cancels ST certificate of BJP MP Jyoti Dhuvre

The Madhya Pradesh government, led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has discarded the scheduled tribe certificate of BJP Member of Parliament Jyoti Dhuvre. Dhuvre is national secretary of BJP and sitting MP from the Betul, a seat which is reserved for scheduled tribe candidates.

Under the directions of the high court, a high-level scrutiny committee was set up. Hindustan Times reported that the committee found that Dhuvre’s certificate “was not in accordance with her father’s lineage”.

The order was released late on Wednesday and read, “In the light of the evidence the high level scrutiny committee has taken its decision on April 1, 2017 unanimously…to cancel the caste certificate of Gond scheduled tribe of Jyoti Dhruve and confiscate it.”

The order has triggered calls for Dhuvre’s resignation from the Betul seat.

KK Mishra, the state Congress chief spokesperson said, “This case has been going on for the last nine years due to political pressure. The tribal welfare department should be asked why it took them so long to bring the facts to light.” He further demanded the election commission to intervene and scrap Dhuvre’s MP status.

Deepak Vijawargiya, the BJP chief spokesperson refused to comment on the case stating that it was sub-judice. The committee was set up by the high court after a complaint was filed by late Ojha Ram Ivane, former Congress MP, who lost the Betul seat to Dhurve in 2009 Lok Sabha election.