Rajnath seeks to do balancing act on reservation

New Delhi, May 29: Alleging that the UPA Government sought to create social tensions on reservations, BJP President Rajnath Singh today attempted to do a balancing act on the issue by asking the Centre to ensure that 'the space for merit is not squeezed and excellence of institutions in not compromised' while reserving 27 per cent seats for OBCs in higher educational institutions.

Treading cautiously on the controversial issue so as not to annoy any section ahead of the crucial assembly elections in key states during the next one year, he said "efforts must be made to ensure that the benefits of reservation must reach the most deprived amongst the socially deprived sections."

Mr Singh was delivering his presidential address at the two- day National Executive of the party, convened to discuss critical issues, like the party's performance in the recent assembly elections and the performance of the UPA Government during its two-year in office. Top party leaders are attending the two-day meet, the first being held under Mr Singh's presidentship.

"The government must ensure that the economically weaker sections of the upper castes are included in the benefits of the reservation," Mr Singh said, making it clear that the BJP was opposed to the exclusion of minority institutions from the obligation of reservation.

"There must be no reservation on religious basis," he argued.

The BJP chief said the manner in which the reservation issue had been handled by the UPA Government left no one in doubt that its object was not social justice but to create social tensions. "The BJP had supported the Constitution amendment to provide reservations in higher educational institutions. However, while doing so, any attempt at divisiveness must be avoided. Social fabric of the society must not be changed. Consensus building is a must for such initiatives. The UPA Government has failed on that score," the BJP chief said.

In his 11-page address, the BJP chief dealt with all major issues, including the just-concluded assembly polls, foreign policy, challenges before the nation, India's relations with neighbours, internal security, common civil code, Naxalite terrorism, price rise, employment guarantee scheme and Telangana issue.

On the foreign policy issue, Mr Singh charged the UPA Government with misleading Parliament on the Indo-US deal for civilian nuclear energy cooperation. ''The details of the agreement disclosed to Parliament about the agreement with the USA do not tally with the details present before US Congress,'' he said.

He said not only the people of India but the Indian Army was also stunned by reports that the UPA Government intended to withdraw forces from the Siachen glacier.

''The Vajpayee Government had put great pressure on Pakistan and made Gen Pervez Musharraf give an undertaking that he will not allow Pakistan terrority to be used for breeding terror. But this government made all the gains of the Vajpayee Government to go waste,'' he added.

On the conversion issue, the BJP President accused the government of launching a 'well-planned' controversy to destroy the very social fabric of the country.

UNI

Related Stories