Right-wing organisations have opposed the Maharashtra government's move to approach the Supreme Court against the Bombay high court verdict in the case about Maratha and Muslim reservations.

The Bombay high court on Friday put a stay on having 16% reservations for Marathas in government jobs and education. The HC also stayed the 5% quota for Muslims in government jobs, though it upheld having the quota in education.

Demanding abolition of all caste and religion-based quotas, Hindu Janjagruti Samiti's national spokesperson Ramesh Shinde told dna, "Quotas for Muslims as well as Marathas are illegal and unconstitutional as the quotas were over and above the already existing 50% reservations. Despite that, these quotas were brought in by the previous Congress-NCP government with an eye on assembly elections in Maharashtra. Why does the BJP government want to continue with the wrong policies of their opponents?"

In Shinde's opinion, reservation, if given, must be based on financial status, not caste or religion. "A large number of upper-caste people across the country are living in humble conditions. If the government really wants to uplift the downtrodden through reservation, they must use financial conditions as the basis," said Shinde.

Shinde said that the politicians who devised the quotas for Muslims and Marathas had acted extra-constitutionally, and must be held accountable for their actions. "They knew that their move was wrong on all counts. The Supreme Court has put a cap of 50% on all reservations. Besides, the Andhra Pradesh government tried to implement the Muslim quota, and that was quashed by the courts. But they went ahead anyway, hoping to gain political benefits."

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, too, opposed having a religion-based quota, and vouched for a "need-based" reservation. VHP's spokesperson Vinod Bansal said, "I have not seen the Bombay High Court verdict, but our stand is clear. We are against religion-based quotas."

Bansal said, "Caste-based reservation was introduced by Babasaheb Ambedkar so that backward communities could be brought at par with others. It was not abolished after (so many years) due to obvious political reasons. Because of this, needy people from the scheduled castes and tribes and other backward castes are not getting the benefits, while others are enjoying the benefits for two-three generations. This must be changed so that needy people get the benefits."