Amid the ongoing Lok Sabha election, Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has made a significant announcement regarding reservations. On 28th April, he stated that his organisation had never been against granting reservations to specific groups. He made the comment during a speech at a Hyderabad-based educational institution. According to him, the RSS believed that reservations should exist as long as they are required. The development transpired after the verbal sparring between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party about reservations.
“There is a video circulating that claims RSS opposes reservations. It is claimed that while we support it in public, we object to it behind closed doors since we are unable to speak about it outside. There is a video circulating that claims RSS rejects reservations. Now, this is completely erroneous and untrue. The Sangh has consistently upheld the constitutionally mandated reservations and affirmed very rightly that those who benefit from it should continue to until they face discrimination in society,” he conveyed.
Notably, last year Mohan Bhagwat remarked in Nagpur that reservations should be granted as long as there is social prejudice. According to him, discrimination exists everywhere in society, even when it is not visible. He has reiterated the same stand time and again on different occasions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the opposition of trying to “steal” reservations intended for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), and Scheduled Tribes (STs) to benefit their preferred Muslim vote base during election rallies in the Bihar Lok Sabha constituencies of Araria and Munger on 26th April. The opposition parties, he further asserted, wanted to impose religion-based reservation if they were to win the Lok Sabha elections, in contrast to his own objective of winning 400 seats to stop them and protect the quotas for Dalits and Other Backward Classes.
Importantly, Chief Minister Siddaramiah-led Congress government classified the entire Muslim community as a backward caste for OBC quota reservation in Karnataka. The decision drew criticism from the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) which highlighted that this categorization runs counter to the principles of social justice. All Muslim castes and groupings have been labelled as socially and educationally backwards under Category IIB on the State List of Backward Classes, according to data supplied by the Karnataka Backward Classes Welfare Department.