PATNA: Chirag Paswan-led LJP (RV) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rasthriya Lok Morcha (RLM), two allies of Bihar NDA, on Sunday pitched for reservation and announced their plans to contest UP assembly polls.
Kushwaha said his party would press for 65% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. The Bihar assembly passed 65% quota bill during Nitish Kumar’s tenure as CM on the basis of the caste-based survey, he said. “Since this matter is stuck in the court, we must now carry forward the work initiated by Nitish Kumar,” he added.
Paswan said reservation was a constitutional right and called for putting all reservation-related Acts under the 9th schedule of the Constitution to shield them from the judicial scrutiny. “I had stated in Parliament on February 10, 2020 that reservation is not charity, but a constitutional right. We won’t even accept a review of reservation, let alone ending it. Our commitment to social justice and protection of constitutional rights is unwavering,” he said. On the anti-quota protest at Jantar Mantar, he said reservations could not be abolished at anyone’s demand.