At a time when the Centre has reversed a Supreme Court ruling introducing procedures for the application of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act through a Bill passed by Parliament and has set the ball rolling for a Constitutional Commission for the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes, the Madhya Pradesh elections will see a new political party speaking against reservations field candidates on most seats.
Founded by a JNU alumnus and former journalist, the Anaarakshit Samaj Party — meaning Reservation-free Society Party – that has been registered recently will contest a majority of the seats in the Assembly polls on an anti-reservation plank. While its default constituency is the upper castes, the party says it does not believe in the caste system and thus opposes caste-based quotas.
Helmet symbol
Its election symbol is the helmet, standing for “a defence shield against any force trampling on our rights”.
“We want an India free of caste-based reservation. If there is reservation, it should be only on economic grounds. For a beginning, creamy layer should be excluded from the benefits of SC and ST quotas, there should be no reservation in promotion and the amendments to the SC/ST (POA) Act should be dropped,” the party’s founder Lalit Shastri told The Hindu . “We stand with the Supreme Court both on the procedures it laid down for the application of the SC/ST Act and its ruling against SC/ST quota benefits going to the creamy layer among these categories.”
He said that the party would contest a majority of the seats in Madhya Pradesh, including those reserved for SC/STs.
While blaming both the Congress and the BJP for the reservation policy, he said the BJP was the “most corrupt”, as the Vyapam scam under the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government was “unprecedented.”
“In MP, the BJP will suffer immensely. They will face both anti-incumbency and the backlash of the anti-reservation mood,” Mr. Shastri, whose party would want to wean away some upper caste votes from the BJP, said.
