Union Minister J P Nadda on Thursday held a "cordial discussion" with representatives of the ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’ in New Delhi, days after hundreds of people gathered at Jantar Mantar demanding that economic criteria take precedence over caste in determining eligibility for affirmative action.
This comes within a week after several people held a protest in the national capital on August 21 following a call by Reservation Hatao Andolan (Scrap Reservation), an Instagram-based page.
"Following the movement that took place at Jantar Mantar on 21 August, cordial discussions were held, as per the pre-determined schedule, with Harsh Dubey, Ran Bahadur Singh Chauhan, and Mrityunjay Pathak, members of the team. In this connection, we will meet again soon," Nadda said in a post on X after the meeting.
The Union minister did not share any further details about the meeting and the venue where it took place.
Those who held a protest under the aegis of Reservation Hatao Andolan at Jantar Mantar on August 21 are demanding scrapping of quota, saying that economic criteria be given precedence over caste in determining eligibility for government support and reservation.
The Delhi Police detained several protesters who gathered at the site, saying no permission had been granted for any protest, procession, demonstration or assembly at Jantar Mantar.
Heavy security, including police and paramilitary personnel, had been deployed in the area.
Nadda's meeting with Reservation Hatao Andolan representatives drew questions from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which had led a "Gen Z" protest at Jantar Mantar last month over the alleged NEET paper leak.
Both sought clarity on the government's position on the protesters' demand for a review of caste-based reservation.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke asked Nadda to explain the Modi government's stand on the anti-reservation movement and questioned what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to say about the August 21 protest.
"What does the Prime Minister have to say about the movement of 21 August, whose name Mr Nadda is not taking? The country wants to know," he wrote in a post on X.
AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj also sought clarity from Nadda on the government's position, referring to the demand for reconsideration of reservations.
"The main demand of the BJP Savarna Morcha movement was a reconsideration of reservations -- please shed light on that," Bharadwaj said in a post on X.
Nadda and Union minister Jitendra Singh had negotiated with the representatives of the CJP, who ended their protest after the resignation of the then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month.
(With inputs from PTI)
