PM should clear stand on 50% quota cap on reservations: Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clear his stand on whether he will support an amendment to the Constitution to remove the 50% cap on reservation for SC/ST and OBCs to give them their rightful due.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the PM of distorting the Congress party manifesto by trying to give a “communal colour to it”.He said the party was categorically clear and said so in its manifesto too that it will do away with the 50% cap on reservations for SC/ST and OBCs. He denied the PM’s allegation about religion-based reservation saying it was a fake charge.
Rubbishing the BJP brass’ denials, Congress said changing the Constitution has been the usual practice of BJP and highlighted that after the draft Constitution was adopted on November 26, 1949, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said that it rejected the Constitution.
Ramesh quoted an article from November 30, 1949 issue of RSS mouthpiece ‘Organiser’ to prove his point. Reading from the article, he said that “the RSS ideologues opposed the Constitution because it was neither inspired nor based on Manusmriti.”
Ramesh alleged that when BJP is talking about “400 paar”, they are basically seeking the right to change the Constitution as the BJP and RSS are against “secularism and social justice".
He demanded that the PM clarify his stand instead of “constant diversion, distortion and defamation” of the opposition party. "I want to ask the prime minister, who wants to give a communal colour to our Nyay Patra and wants to mislead, that will he remove the cap of 50% reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs?," Ramesh said.
“We have always said that social and economic backwardness is the only basis for giving reservations. Because the Supreme Court has fixed the cap at 50% and some states have crossed this limit so we want to bring an amendment to the Constitution so that in states where the limit has been crossed they can get the legal status,” he explained.