Patna: RJD national working president Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Tuesday accused the BJP-led NDA of systematically trying to abolish reservation, claiming the poor representation of SC, ST and OBC communities in top positions exposed the ruling alliance’s approach.Addressing a news conference in Patna, Tejashwi cited the representation of these communities in universities, govt departments and high courts, alleging their numbers could be “counted on fingers”.“In the country’s universities, there isn’t even a total of 10 vice-chancellors from the SC-ST-OBC categories. Among the secretaries of the Government of India, there isn’t even a total of 10 secretaries from the SC-ST-OBC categories, and in the high courts, there isn’t even a total of 10 judges from the SC-ST-OBC categories,” he said.Tejashwi alleged that despite accounting for 90% of the population, SC, ST and OBC communities did not have even 1% representation in these sectors. He described the BJP-RSS and NDA as “anti-reservation”.“Do they select vice-chancellors through written exams? In Baba Saheb’s Constitution, they were granted the right to equality and reservation, yet now these BJP people are doing away with those opportunities. Why are lakhs of reserved quota jobs for SC-ST-OBC categories lying vacant?” he asked.Targeting NDA allies Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha, Tejashwi alleged they had no ideology and were focused only on political survival and benefiting their families.“Whether it’s Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi or Upendra Kushwaha, these people have no ideology. Their only ideology is how to survive and benefit the family,” he alleged.He also mocked the allies over their criticism of family politics, saying several members of their families were active in politics and enjoying the benefits of power.
