Begin typing your search above and press return to search.

No scrapping of quotas, asserts PM

By The Assam Tribune

MUMBAI, Oct 11 - Invoking the legacy of BR Ambedkar on the eve of the first phase of Bihar polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today categorically ruled out scrapping the reservation system and assailed �a group of liars� for the false propaganda that it is under threat.

�Every time when a BJP government is in power, a group of liars spreads the malicious propaganda that we are out to scrap reservations... It happened during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government�s time as well,� Modi said addressing at a well-attended public meeting here.

�Falsehood must stop. Terrorising society must end. This is not politics,� Modi said.

The Prime Minister�s assertion came a day ahead of the first phase of Bihar polls where reservation is a hotly-debated topic following RSS chief�s Mohan Bhagwat�s call for a reivew.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad have been quick to latch on to Bhagwat�s remark to claim there was a sinister attempt to scrap reservations for the backward classes and weaker sections.

In his 45-minute speech at the MMRDA grounds, Modi said, �This rumour-mongering starts every time when elections are round the corner.� Whenever polls approach, the Opposition begins a debate on reservation, Modi said, ruling out a rethink on the reservation policy.

�This is something which Babasaheb Ambedkar has given us and no power can take it away,� he said. �I have seen poverty. I have lived with it and there is a lot to be done for the uplift of the downtrodden of the society to whose betterment Babasaheb was committed,� he said.

Modi, who earlier laid the foundation for Ambedkar Memorial in the heart of the city, said his government has embarked on a project to develop five landmarks associated with the life of the architect of the Indian Constitution as �Panch teerths� � five holy places for millions to come and pay homage.

Apart from the Indu Mill, other places to be developed as part of the project are Ambedkar�s birth place Mau in Madhya Pradesh, Alipur Road residence in Delhi, his parents� village in coastal Maharashtra and the house where he lived in London. � PTI

Next Story