Party to use RSS chief's call for review reservation to win support of Ezhavas
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's suggestion to review reservation for SC, ST and OBCs could not have come at a better time for the CPM. The party is widely using the issue to trigger debate especially among OBCs across the state in the run-up to the local body poll.
The party is holding meetings in 25,000 centres including 22,000 wards of local bodies to discuss RSS' alleged move to topple reservation policy.
At these meetings, resolutions are being passed in defence of reservation and to demand 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections among forward communities by amending the Constitution.
"These resolutions will be sent to the prime minister on October 2. Backwards and Dalits have now seen the true face of the RSS, thanks to Bhagwat. It is also a major setback for the SNDP which is desperately trying to push the community to the Sangh Parivar camp," said CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
But the BJP leadership seems to be unnerved by the CPM campaign."Backward communities and Dalits have no doubts about our reservation policy. Such campaigns are not going to make any difference. Their campaign against Modi for the past 16 months has fallen flat. Moreover, the reservation issue has failed to click even in Bihar," said BJP state general secretary K. Surendran.
However, former president of the SNDP C. K. Vidyasagar said the RSS chief's views would create apprehensions in the minds of Ezhava community which was quite conscious of the importance of affirmative action like reservation for social, economic and educational progress.
"The SNDP stand on protecting reservation is crystal clear. Moreover, it has also demanded quotas in private sector as well in view of dwindling opportunities in the government sector. So, the majority of the community members will not accept the RSS chief's views on reservation," he said adding that the Sangh Parivar had always believed that reservation created a divide among Hindus.
Vidyasagar said there was space for backward politics in the state as mainstream political parties were dancing to the tunes of organised minorities.
Political observers say the reservation issue is a live wire. With OBCs and Dalits availing reservation in government jobs and education and most of their organisations demanding quota even in the private sector, the BJP will have to do a lot of explaining on the RSS stand.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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