Home India M G Vaidya stirs quota pot for RSS: Marathas not backward

M G Vaidya stirs quota pot for RSS: Marathas not backward

The BJP government in Maharashtra has promised reservation for the Maratha community, which had carried out a long silent agitation across the state for the provision.

RSS ideologue M G Vaidya (Express Archive)

As RSS’S all-India prachar pramukh Manmohan Vaidya’s remarks over reservation continue to generate controversy, his father and senior RSS ideologue M G Vaidya on Saturday questioned the provision of reservation for certain castes such as Marathas that are not “backward”.

The RSS called M G Vaidya’s statement on reservation his “personal opinion”.

“The SCs and STs must continue to get reservations, but the Marathas are not a backward caste,” Vaidya told The Sunday Express. “There have been chief ministers, governors, vice-chancellors etc from the community. But there are poor among the Marathas, too. The government should decide how they can be accommodated in the reservation regimen.”

The BJP government in Maharashtra has promised reservation for the Maratha community, which had carried out a long silent agitation across the state for the provision.

Vaidya said, “The government should also appoint a non-political committee to find out who have benefitted from caste-based reservations and who have not, because it is found that while some have benefitted for more than two generations, some (sections) have not at all. They should also be brought under the quota umbrella.”

Before the 2015 Bihar elections, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had also demanded a review of the reservation policy.

As M G Vaidya’s remarks created another controversy, the RSS on Saturday went on the defensive and both Manmohan Vaidya and Sahsarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale issued separate statements clarifying the Sangh’s stand on the issue.

“An attempt is going on to create a controversy over the opinion of RSS on reservation. We strongly oppose it. I had clarified the RSS’s view on reservation at Jaipur Literature Festival and during a subsequent press conference,” Hosabale said. “The RSS does not agree with that. The RSS’s stand is clear that reservation supported by the Constitution for SCs, STs and OBCs must continue. It is still needed today, it should be implemented in totality.”

Manmohan Vaidya said, “Reservation is necessary as long as caste-based discrimination continues in Hindu society. The Sangh has repeatedly clarified…this.” He also said that reservation to minorities on the basis of religion is “not sanctioned by the Constitution, and is not appropriate either. These two issues are different. Please don’t try to create an illusion by mixing both”.

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