Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment and president of Republican Party of India, Ramdas Athwale said that the reservation limit should be increased to 75% to accommodate more communities. He was in Bhopal on Tuesday.
Talking to media persons, Athwale said that members of certain communities have staged agitations in several states demanding reservation. Patidars in Gujarat, Gujjars in Rajasthan and Marathas in Maharashtra are demanding reservation, he said citing examples. Supreme Court has put a cap fixing the reservation to 50%. “I have demanded the union government to make a provision to raise the reservation cap from 50% to 75%,” said Athwale. Members of general category too could be given reservation by forming another category, he added.
Replying to a question, Athwale said that he still believes that there was a Buddhist temple at Ayodhya. A Ram temple and a mosque too should be built there and the place should be developed as a place of communal harmony, he added. Athwale said that BJP is not anti-dalit rather Congress discriminated between the dalits and general category. He stated that Atrocities Act should not be changed but cautioned the dalits to use it judiciously.
