New Delhi: Disillusioned with the Apex Court's decision on the issue of reservation in appointments and promotions, Congress leader Udit Raj on Wednesday protested at Jantar Mantar against the government's stance. He allegedly said that wherever BJP is in power, their first priority is to dilute reservation.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, Udit Raj said, "Uttarakhand government argued in the Supreme Court that the reservation provisions in article 16(4) and 16(4A) are not constitutional right. This shows the mentality of BJP and RSS."
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Udit Raj also alleged that ever since the Modi government came into power at the centre, reservation is being eroded by various methods like privatisation, disinvestment and outsourcing, among others.
Senior Congress leader outrightly put forward his strong viewpoint saying that the collegiate system in the Supreme Court is unconstitutional. The appointment of judges is done by judges themselves and it has been completely unfair in the sense that only upper castes are ruling the roost.
While speaking to ETV Bharat, Udit Raj said we welcome Congress' take on such issues, however, we also expect that Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janta Dal and other political parties too will speak up against the Supreme Court's order.
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He also said that protest can be taken in the context of symbolism and if our demands are not met, we will launch countrywide agitation. The Congress leader urged that reservation benefits for the Scheduled Caste(SC) and Scheduled Tribes(ST) besides Other Backward Classes(OBC) should continue in the same manner as they have been earlier.
The Supreme Court earlier had said in a judgement that there is no fundamental right to claim reservation in promotion and states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments.
