Dismissing claims that he raised the issue of reservation in view of Bihar elections, Congress leader Jitin Prasada today said he spoke about it so as to ensure that Uttar Pradesh did not become Gujarat, which recently witnessed violent agitation by the Patel community.
The former Union Minister, who created a flutter in the Congress circle by his letter to the AICC on the issue, said what he wanted was that the legitimacy of the social justice issue was maintained as Uttar Pradesh has witnessed some dominant castes among OBCs getting most of the benefits at the cost of the vulnerable sections among the backwards.
Besides, those close to power among OBCs have reaped the reward at the cost of others, he said.
"Dominant castes among the backwards are squeezing out OBC communities which are less powerful," he said.
Prasada told PTI that he had also made a strong plea for reservation for the poor among the upper castes - modalities for which could be worked out by experts - given the fact that a section among them was getting increasingly marginalised.
He, however, made it clear that he had not dwelt on the issue of reservation for SCs and STs as it was a "very complex" matter.
Prasada was seen being greeted by several delegates at the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee convention here called to deliberate on ways and means to revive the organisation in the state, where the party has been out of power since 1989 in the wake of the Mandal agitation and the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
Prasada said since he hailed from Uttar Pradesh, his suggestions were in the context of Uttar Pradesh and had nothing to do with poll-bound Bihar.
"I do not want Uttar Pradesh to become Gujarat where army was on the streets in the wake of the quota agitation by Patels," he said, adding that his letter to the party had sparked a debate within the organisation.
