There has been much ado about the Congress charge against the Bharatiya Janata Party that it was planning to change the constitution. The Congress picked up the gauntlet by countering the BJP’s 400+ campaign, saying it wanted to change the constitution with an “aim to finish the reservation”.
Congress leaders right from the party president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Rahul Gandhi, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and others have been continuously raking up the issue and quoting some of the BJP leaders having said that the party needs 400+ seats in the Lok Sabha to change the constitution.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to say that nobody on earth, even if Dr Ambedkar comes back, can change the constitution. But the BJP has been put on the defensive on this issue, while it should ideally have been the Congress that should be doing the answering and explaining in the matter.
Consider what Rahul says in each and every public meeting. He holds a copy of the constitution in an obvious attempt to make a more powerful impact and drive home his point and goes on to say that the BJP wants to change the constitution. In the same vein, he asserts, that no power on earth can change the constitution. That way he is only contradicting himself. Yet the BJP has not been able to counter him on that.
In reality, it is Rahul who has been suggesting to change the constitution. Consider what he says. According to him “90 per cent” of the country's population has been deprived of everything including the share in power, decision-making process, share in the private sector, hospitals, educational institutions, media and whatnot.
He breaks up the “90 per cent” figure into 50 per cent backwards, 15 per cent Dalits, 15 per cent Minorities, 8 per cent Adivasis and 5 per cent “poor from the general castes”. He roughly calculates it to be “90 per cent” of the country's population. Then he claims that this “90 per cent” population has zero representation/participation/share in the government, media, corporate sector, private hospitals and private educational institutions and a negligible share in the judiciary.
Right now, there is a “50 per cent cap” on reservations in the country. Reservations cannot be more than 50 per cent. That was decided by the Supreme Court apparently to protect merit for 50 per cent of people.
Now, Rahul Gandhi has been repeatedly asserting that the ‘INDIA’ government, if it is formed, will remove the fifty per cent cap and provide reservation according to the percentage of the population. For this, he says, the INDIA government if it is formed, will bring an amendment in the parliament. That means if the backwardS' population is 50 percent they will get 50 percent reservation and so on.
What most people seem to miss are two things. One, he has been counting the minorities among the “90 per cent of the deprived people”. This includes, according to him, 15 per cent minorities. By suggesting that 90 per cent of the population will get reservation rights according to the “proportion of the population” he clearly means that there will be reservations for minorities also. This means religion-based reservation, which the Congress government in Karnataka had introduced in the 1990s.
Providing reservation on the basis of religion actually means changing the constitution. Rather, this means changing the basic structure of the constitution, as it does not allow religious-based reservation.
BJP has missed the point of countering the Congress, although Prime Minister Modi has been referring to it.
Not just the religious-based reservation, the tone and content of Rahul Gandhi’s speeches suggest clearly and categorically that, if the INDIA bloc comes to power, it will introduce and enforce reservation in the private sector as well.
Imagine a scenario, where a private company that has been built with the blood and sweat of its promoters is forced to recruit “NINETY PERCENT” of its staff based on reservation and just ten per cent on merit. This will include recruiting writers and journalists on the basis of reservation.
This is not a doomsday prediction. This is a possible, although not a probable, scenario as of now if the INDIA bloc comes to power. If the BJP is planning to change the constitution, as INDIA bloc allies are alleging, then the INDIA bloc itself is planning to destroy and doom the nation.
Congress knows BJP or Prime Minister Modi cannot say anything on reservations lest they be perceived to be against the reservations. The Congress is exploiting the situation to the hilt, knowing well that the BJP just can’t say or do anything about it. Because nobody wants to be seen or perceived to be against “reservations” even if the demand is for NINETY PERCENT RESERVATION.
Follow us
