Bengaluru: Actor Prakash Raj, who has decided to contest the coming Lok Sabha poll from Bengaluru Central constituency as an independent, on Friday welcomed the Union government’s recent decision to extend 10 per cent reservation for the poor among the upper castes.
A die-hard critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he, however, said he was not sure he would keep his promise. “I believe in only two kinds of people. Those who have money and those who don’t. Reservation is a means of supporting the deprived class of people. Since taking over as Prime Minister, Mr Modi has been making a lot of promises but not keeping them. This reservation should not be one more such hollow promise as it is a good initiative,'' he maintained.
The actor, who was inaugurating a photo-exhibition on Ayodhya showing its people living in harmony despite the divide over the building of the Ram temple in the country, observed, “The entire country believes that the Hindus and Muslims are fighting over the temple in Ayodha, but they are not.''
While explaining that he had taken a conscious decision to contest the LS poll, he, however, said he did not believe in the political party system at all. “There is no mention of political parties even in the Constitution. It is all about citizen participation in parliament. After I decided to contest independently, the Aam Admi Party offered to back me . But I went to Delhi to thank Mr Aravind Kejariwal for his unconditional support and informed him of my views,'' he added.
Asked if he expected others to support him, the aspiring MP said: “They will come, there’s still time. Those who value secularism will support my cause.”
