BJP always tries to weaken reservation fight, says SP chief Akhilesh

SP president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday attacked the ruling BJP amid the controversy over sub-classification and creamy layer in SC-ST reservation and alleged the BJP government always tries to weaken the fight for reservation through its vague statements and lawsuits.

Yadav wrote on 'X' in Hindi, "The main objective of any kind of reservation should be the empowerment of the neglected society, not the division or disintegration of that society, this violates the basic principle of reservation itself."

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister was apparently referring to the recent Supreme Court judgment allowing sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes (SCs).

"The discrimination and unequal opportunities that have been going on for countless generations cannot be bridged by the changes that have come in a few generations," he said in the same post.

"'Reservation' is the constitutional way to empower and strengthen the exploited, deprived society, this is what will bring about change, there is no need to change its provisions," he added.

In its verdict, the apex court had held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes, which form a socially heterogeneous class, for granting reservation for the uplift of castes that are socially and educationally more backward.

Yadav did not mention the apex court in his post, rather trained his guns on the BJP.

"The BJP government every time tries to weaken the fight for reservation through its vague statements and lawsuits, then when various components of the PDA put pressure on it, it pretends to back down by showing superficial sympathy.

"The internal thinking of the BJP has always been anti-reservation. That is why the trust of 90 per cent of the PDA society on the BJP is continuously falling. The credibility of the BJP on the issue of reservation has become zero," he added in the same post.

The SP coined the term PDA referring to backwards, Dalits and minorities, before the recent Lok Sabha polls and made it the party's poll pitch.

"For the PDA, the 'Constitution' is a sanjeevani (lifesaver), while 'reservation' is the oxygen," Yadav added.

The Supreme Court verdict directed states to formulate a policy to identify the 'creamy layer' among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

The Union Cabinet on Friday said there is no provision for the 'creamy layer' in the reservation for SCs and STs in the Constitution.

'Creamy layer' refers to those people and families of SC and ST communities who fall in the higher income group.

The Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a detailed discussion on the Supreme Court's decision regarding the sub-classification of reservation provided in the Constitution for SCs and STs.

Informing reporters about the decisions taken by the Union Cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had said that it is the considered opinion of the Cabinet that the NDA government is committed to the provisions of the Constitution.

"According to the Constitution given by B R Ambedkar, there is no provision for 'creamy layer' in SC-ST reservation," Vaishnav had said.

He said the provision of SC-ST reservation should be in accordance with the Constitution.