Scrap political reservations, says Prakash Ambedkar

Bahujan Samaj Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar has demanded ending of political reservations for the members of Scheduled Classes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST)

Bahujan Samaj Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar has demanded ending of political reservations for the members of Scheduled Classes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.

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His said, the said reservations have outlived their utility and those getting elected on these reserved seats have become slaves of political parties. He, however, said that reservations in jobs and education should continue as it is a fundamental right.

The said reservation was introduced to ensure representation for the members of SC and ST in the parliament and state assemblies. Here some seats are kept reserved where only members of the SC and ST are allowed to contest.

“The political reservation should be scrapped as it serves no purpose. Those getting elected on these reserved seats have become slaves of various political parties and instead of serving the people, they spend their time in serving their political masters,” said Prakash. “It is being seen that even other caste voters tend to vote for SC and ST candidates in the general seats and in such a scenario, scrapping is best,” he added. However, he said neither BJP nor the Congress will support this as it allows them to exploit the situation.

He said in 1954 his own grandfather, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar who is referred as the architect of Indian constitution had himself called for scrapping this provision.

However, other political parties have opposed this view. “If we scrap this reservation, members of SC and ST will never be able get elected to the parliament or assemblies. The other castes still don’t vote for us,” said Avinash Mhatekar, former state minister and Republican Party of India (A) leader. He said instead parties like VBA and RPI should become formidable force to get their members elected to these seats.

Senior Dalit leader Jogendra Kawade, who heads the Peoples Republican Party, agrees that many of the representatives have become slaves but opposes scrapping. “At least now, these communities are getting some representation due to the reservation which will become negligible if it is done way away with,” said Kawade.