Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today (Wednesday, 11 September) clarified that he is not against reservation and is in favour of abolishing the 50 percent limit on reservation. This clarification from Rahul came after his alleged anti-reservation remarks. He clarified that his statement has been misrepresented. Rahul said that his party will take reservation beyond the 50 percent limit.
Rahul said during an interview at the National Press Club in the US, “Yesterday someone misrepresented my statement that I am against reservation. But let me make it clear that I am not against reservation. We will take reservation beyond the limit of 50 percent.” Rahul’s comment, which has given rise to controversy, was made yesterday during an interaction with students and teachers of Georgetown University in Washington DC.
Rahul had said that the Congress party will think about ending reservation only when there will be fairness in India in terms of reservation and at present it is not so. Rahul’s comment came in response to a question from students at the prestigious Georgetown University. The university students had questioned Rahul about reservation and asked how long it will continue. On this, he said, “When there will be fairness in India (in terms of reservation), then we will think about ending reservation. Right now India is not a fair place for this.”
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“When you look at the financial data, Adivasis get 10 paise out of Rs 100. Dalits get five rupees out of Rs 100 and other backward class (OBC) people get almost the same amount. The truth is that they are not getting proper participation,” Rahul said. “The problem is that 90 per cent of India’s population is not able to participate. Look at the list of every single ‘business leader’ of India. I have done that. Show me Adivasi names. Show me Dalit names. Show me OBC names. I think one of the top 200 is an OBC. They are 50 per cent of India’s population. But we are not treating the disease,” he said. “That is the problem. Now, this (reservation) is not the only tool. There are other tools too.” (With Bhasha inputs)
