JOIN USMumbai: Distancing himself from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s call for a review of the reservation policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday firmly ruled out a rethink on it and assailed a “group of liars” for spreading “falsehood” about quotas facing threat under NDA rule.
Breaking his silence on the contentious issue while invoking B R Ambedkar’s legacy on the eve of the first phase of Bihar polls, Modi said, “This falsehood must stop. Terrorising society must end. This is not politics.”
Modi, who laid the foundation for a memorial to Ambedkar, the architect of Indian Constitution, said, “Every time when a BJP government is in power, a group of liars spreads the malicious propaganda that we are out to scrap reservations... It happened during the Atal Bihari Vajapayee government’s time as well.”
The Prime Minister’s assertion at a public meeting after laying the foundation for a Memorial to Ambedkar came a day ahead of the first phase of Bihar polls where reservation is a hotly-debated topic following following RSS chief’s Mohan Bhagwat’s call for a reivew.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad have been quick to latch on to Bhagwat’s remark to claim there was a sinister attempt to do away with reservations for the backward classes and weaker sections.
Though both BJP and the Centre had distanced themselves from Bhagwat’s view on reservations, Modi was under attack for his silence on the issue.