Against the backdrop of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat seeking a review in the existing reservation policy, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav on Thursday said “no one can review and remove” the existing reservation policy till the caste system is prevalent in India.
Seeking to shift the blame on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bhagwat for raking up caste issue in Bihar polls, Sharad Yadav dared NDA Government to call a special session of Parliament to discuss its eradication. “If the Centre is serious, they should call the Special Session of Parliament only to discuss the issue of eradication of caste system in India. Till the caste system is prevalent, no one on the earth can remove and review the existing reservation policy in the country,” he said.
He also dismissed BJP’s attempts to distance itself from Bhagwat’s remarks and reminded that the saffron party had taken out ‘Kamandal’ to oppose ‘Mandal’ way back in 1990. The JD (U) chief insisted that after implementation of recommendations of Mandal Commission, the issue was “settled since 1991” and there was no need for any one to raise it again and again.
“When Mandal report was implemented, the BJP had taken out ‘Kamandal’. It had taken up Rathyatra on the Ram Temple issue soon after VP Singh Government announced implementation of Mandal Commission report providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in jobs and education. It was nothing but a covert attempt to oppose reservation. Now they are distancing themselves from Bhagwat’s remarks due to political reasons but the BJP has track record of opposing reservation,” Yadav said at a Press conference.
When asked about RJD chief lalu Prasad’s alleged ‘casteist’ remarks, Sharad Yadav said, it was first Modi who spoke about “Yaduvanshis” at an election rally in Bihar. “It is Bhagwat who talked about reviewing reservation, which even top leaders in top political parties did not think about in last 68 years. He tried to add fuel to the fire. Bhagwat alone didn’t raise the issue of reservation, even the Prime Minister in his first rally at Muzaffarpur in Bihar on July 25 had said that Yaduvanshis have been given poison in the State by the previous Fovernments,”said Yadav.
The Rajya Sabha member also said there was no controversy when Modi said he was a devotee of lord Krishna and follows the footsteps of Yaduvanshis but a controversy has been made when lalu talks about Yaduvanshis.
He also insisted that development was the poll issue for his party but evaded a direct reply on whether his party disagrees with what the RJD chief said about Bihar elections being a contest between forward and backward castes. “lalu said this in context to Bhagwat’s remarks,” he said.