Protests against OBC quota contempt of SC and Constitution: Paswan

Pilibhit, May 17 (UNI) Calling reservation an effective mechanism to alleviate the weaker sections, Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan today said the ongoing agitation against the OBC quota was in complete defiance of the Constitution and the Supreme Court ruling.

''Nobody will be allowed to come in the way of implementation of the quota,'' the Union Chemicals and Fertiliser and Steel Minister said, while addressing a Dalit-Minorities rally at Puranpur here.

Economically weaker sections from the upper caste should also be covered under the quota. They should be given ten per cent reservation in institutions like the IITs and IIMs while the seats for backward classes should be increased by 27 per cent, Mr Paswan said.

Political parties like the BJP, to gain political mileage, were supporting the protests on one hand while backing the legislation in Parliament on the other, he claimed.

The LJP leader said if the backwards had not been given reservation by way of amending the constitution, it could have caused division of the country.

Asserting that the argument of ''merit'', against reservation was ''meaningless'', Mr Paswan cited the example of south Indian states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala where, reservations had not hampered growth.

In view of the coming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Union Minister urged the Muslims and the Dalits to join hands as they formed about ''40 per cent of the country's population.'' ''If the two communities would come together, they would become a potent political force,'' he said.

Claiming his party would emerge as an alternative in the state, Mr Paswan said the LJP would contest almost 400 seats in Uttar Pradesh. ''The LJP is in contact with the Left parties and former prime minister V P Singh in this regard,'' he said.

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