UP Assembly Polls: Chirag Paswan, Upendra Kushwaha Put Reservation At Centre Of Political Pitch

Patna: Ahead of the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar NDA`s two allies - union minister Chirag Paswan’s LJP (RV) and Rajya Sabha member Upendra Kushwaha’s Rasthriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM) - have sought to build a compelling case for reservation benefits.

Both parties have also announced their plans to contest elections in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

Chirag posted an old video (February 10, 2020) on the party`s ‘X’ account on Sunday, strongly pitching for reservation in Lok Sabha. He also contended that reservation was a constitutional right and sought to place all reservation-related acts under the 9th Schedule of the Constitution to shield them from judicial scrutiny.

While responding to a media query on the anti-quota protest at Jantar Mantar, he told newspersons in Patna recently that reservations could not be abolished at anyone's demand, asserting that it was a constitutional right meant to support communities that faced social discrimination for generations, and it was also not a charity given to anyone.

LJP (RV) has decided to contest the upcoming UP assembly election, keeping open the possibility of fighting either as part of the NDA or independently. A decision to that effect was taken in the party`s national executive committee meeting in New Delhi on August 10.

Meanwhile, RLM chief Kushwaha, in his media interaction in Patna on Sunday, said that Nitish Kumar had conducted the caste-based survey in Bihar and based on the survey data, the government led by him decided to raise the reservation quota for OBCs in Bihar to 65 percent. “Since this matter is stuck in the court, we (RLM) must now carry forward the work initiated by Nitish Kumar," he remarked. His party has also planned to contest polls  in UP, as a resolution was also passed in its recently-concluded “Vimarsh Shivir” in Rajgir too.

Kushwaha also clarified his remarks about Nitish Kumar's political legacy made in Rajgir, saying his comments had been "distorted and presented out of context."

He said JDU leaders themselves were concerned about who would carry forward the party's legacy. "I only raised that concern, but unnecessary politics was started over it. It is no secret that I also have a role to play in taking the JDU forward. I spoke about that pain," Kushwaha said.