Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath declared on Tuesday that people would not accept the agenda of “INDI alliance” to grant reservation to a specific religious group, thereby jeopardising the constitutional framework and encroaching upon the reservation meant for the backward and scheduled caste.
Interacting with the media at the Gorakhnath temple complex, the chief minister underscored, “The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staunchly opposes any form of reservation based on religion because the common people have borne the brunt of partition of the country on the basis of religion. The BJP firmly supports reservation benefits for SC/ST and OBC communities.”
“The history of the Congress, Samajwadi Party, and their associates within the INDI alliance is well-known to all. The Congress has a track record of undermining Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s Constitution. Since its adoption in 1950, the Congress persistently attempted to manipulate the Constitution for its own ends, often disregarding fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression. Governance is meant for the people, and public sentiments ought to be honoured, a principle the Congress failed to grasp,” he added.
Yogi highlighted that the people have not forgotten the Emergency period. He likened the incident to strangulating the Constitution of the country. “Along with this, the people of the country also remember the sins that the Congress committed during the UPA government. The SP and BSP were allies of the Congress at that time,” he added.
Yogi alleged that the Congress had tried to deprive the SC/ST and OBCs of their rights through initiatives like the Justice Ranganath Mishra and Sachar committees, engaging in actions contrary to the constitution across the country. Subsequently, the Congress maliciously attempted to introduce reservations based on religion.
He continued, “The ulterior motive of the then Congress government was to cut 6 per cent of the 27 per cent reservation meant for OBC and give it to a community as part of its appeasement politics. Similarly, through the Sachar Committee, efforts were made to include certain Muslim castes by encroaching upon the reservations allocated for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.”
The chief minister emphasised that the strong opposition from the Bharatiya Janata Party thwarted the intentions of the then Congress government.
“Otherwise, within the same UPA government, the Congress would have endeavoured to undermine OBC and SC-ST reservations by introducing religion-based reservations nationwide,” he pointed out.
Yogi said that the Congress has already initiated religious-based reservations in Karnataka by infringing upon the OBC reservation. “The Election Commission has also sought a report from the Karnataka government regarding this issue,” he added.
Yogi said that the BJP fully respects Baba Saheb Dr Ambedkar and all the framers of the Constitution.
