The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has reiterated its stand against implementation of any reservation for minorities except what some sections of the minorities get as backward castes.
Party spokesperson Ramnath Kovind avoided any comment on the recent Supreme Court decision to allow 4 per cent reservation for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh till such time that a larger bench goes into the question. But, he argued against the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission report that was placed in Parliament in December last year.
A point made by him in connection with Christian scheduled castes was that since they were better educated than Hindu SCs, they would grab all the jobs.
Expresses fear
The BJP also expressed fear that both Muslim and Christian Dalits would also become eligible to contest from reserved SC constituencies in local level elections as well as Assembly and Lok Sabha elections and thus take away seats from the Hindu SCs.
The party has been arguing that from the time of the Constituent Assembly, when this question was debated and it was agreed not to include converts in SC reservation, and even before during British rule, it was felt that reservation should not be opened to Muslim or Christian converts. The party has also been warning that if this were to be done, it would lead to strife and social unrest.
However, its coalition partner in Bihar, the Janata Dal (United), has been in favour of extending SC reservation to Muslims and Christians. With Assembly election in Bihar later this year, any move in this direction by the Centre would see the BJP and the JD (U) in opposite camps on this issue.
