Just when the BJP’s list of candidates for the Bihar elections reflected a caste balancing act to reach out beyond its traditional upper caste vote banks, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks on reservations has given the party’s opponents ammunition against it. (The so-called tea-seller Modi, who recently converted as a Backward, should tell people whether he’ll terminate the reservation policy on the advice of his master Mohan Bhagwat)”, Lalu said in another tweet. At the same time, we should remember that through interest groups we should not strive to address those aspirations at the cost of others. “Since inception it has been politicised”, Bhagwat had said. Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP said reservations was a settled issue. “We are not in favour of any re-consideration of reservation benefits being extended to these groups”, said Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
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The statement in an interview to RSS mouthpiece “Organiser” sparked off reactions from not just Opposition parties but also from within the NDA.
BJP managers are anxious that Bhagwat’s remarks could undermine the party’s boast about fielding a “record” number of Dalit and backward candidates in Bihar.
“It is BJP’s firm committment since Jan Sangh days that reservation is essential for social and economic development and empowerment of SCs, STs, backward and extremely backward castes”.
He further asserted that the government should st up a political committee take care of the reservation policy in the country because presently the issue of reservation policy has become a debatable issue and because of this the issue has certainly been used for political ends. I challenge you to scrap reservation. “RSS Sarsanghchalak has not commented on the prevailing reservation to various vulnerable sections of society in the interview“, Manmohan Vaidya, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh of RSS said in a press statement.
To this, the RSS chief reacted by saying, “Reservation for socially backward classes is the right example in this regard”.
“If we would have implemented this policy as envisaged by the Constitution makers instead of doing politics over it, then the situation would not have arrived”.
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Bhagwat’s comments came in the wake of recent agitation of Patel Patidar community led by Hardik Patel, seeking reservation within OBC quota.
