Upper caste reservation is election gimmick: Congress

Citing the Supreme Courts cap of 50 per cent on reservation, Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday called the Modi governments move of 10 per cent reservation for economically backward upper castes in jobs and educational institutions as an “election gimmick”.

Singhvi, among the first to inform on twitter about the cabinet’s approval to 10 per cent reservation to economically backward upper castes, questioned whether the Modi government had the majority in Parliament to carry out the Constitutional amendment.

“Did you (government) not think of this for 4 years and 8 months? So, obviously thought of as election gimmick 3 months before model code. You know you cannot exceed 50 per cent cap, so it is done only to posture that you tried unconstitutional thing,” Singhvi said on twitter.

“Forward reservation a gimmick to fool people, the 50 per cent cap continues to be law,” he said, citing the M.R. Balaji case in which the Supreme Court put a 50 per cent cap on reservations.

“Government only misleading nation. Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan tried exceeding 50 per cent quota but were struck down by court. Modi, BJP clearly think Indian public eats grass,” said Singhvi, adding that the move was a sign of Modi’s “fear and certainty of losing 2019 elections”.