Congress must make its stand clear on caste quota: Mayawati

New Delhi, Feb 5: Slamming senior

leader

for his statement against caste-based reservations,

chief

on Wednesday demanded that the party must make its stand clear on the issue.

"A senior Congress leader has given a statement on reservation, this can't be an individual's opinion, but the party's stand. We strongly condemn it," she told reporters outside Parliament.

Dwivedi had called for an end to reservation on caste lines.

Dwivedi had called for an end to reservation on caste lines and urged Rahul Gandhi to introduce quota for financially weaker sections bringing all communities under its ambit.

"This (reservation on caste lines) should have come to an end. Why it did not happen so far was because vested interests got into the process. Does the real needy person even among the Dalits and backward castes get the benefits of reservation? Those in the upper crust of these communities only avail the benefits. There is a difference between social justice and casteism," Dwivedi had said.

Criticising the statement, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, with whom Congress is inching closer to form an alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, said Dwivedi's remarks were against the spirit of the Constitution. "...this kind of statement will only strengthen the Opposition. We demand that Congress party should condemn it so that wrong message should not go the people," Paswan told reporters outside Parliament.

He said that he has spoken to senior Congress leaders and they were also unable to figure out "why such kind of wrong comments were made".

PTI