BJP Accuses Opposition INDIA Bloc of Appeasement Politics on Reservation Issue

The BJP’s charge came a day after West Bengal chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee said she will not accept a Calcutta high court order that scrapped the OBC status of several classes granted in the state since 2010, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed the system is heavily aligned against lower castes and his party aims to fix this.

Leading the charge, BJP president J.P. Nadda attacked the TMC government over “appeasement politics and divisive agenda,” which he alleged resembled the “tactics of the Muslim League”.

“The Calcutta high court's decision to cancel OBC reservation for Muslims is a landmark step towards upholding constitutional principles. It exposes the appeasement politics and divisive agenda of Mamata Didi’s government, resembling the Muslim League’s tactics. The Constitution clearly states that reservations cannot be granted based on religion. The people of West Bengal will give a strong response to Mamata Didi’s actions,” said Mr Nadda.

Latching on to the comments of Opposition leaders, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said: “Appeasement is the dose and diet of parties like the Congress and the TMC. Without this, they cannot survive even a day.”

The senior BJP leader alleged that after coming at the helm in West Bengal, Ms Banerjee pursued votebank politics and gave OBC certificates to a number of castes and the beneficiaries also included Muslims, Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.

“The Calcutta high court's decision in the matter that came on Wednesday was a tight slap on Ms Banerjee’s votebank politics,” said Mr Chouhan, while addressing the media at the BJP headquarters.

The Calcutta high court on Wednesday struck down as illegal the OBC status of several classes in West Bengal granted since 2010. The court observed that the inclusion of 77 classes of Muslims in the list was to “treat them as a vote bank”.

Reacting sharply, Ms Banerjee had asserted that she “will not accept” the order and challenge it in a higher court.

Mr Chouhan criticized the West Bengal CM for her refusal to accept the high court’s order and termed her remarks an insult to the Constitution.

“What does Mamata Banerjee think of herself? Is she above the Constitution? This is the height of arrogance and anarchy,” he said, and added that the TMC chief has no right to continue holding the post of chief minister who provided reservation on the basis of religion in violation of the Constitution.

On Mr Gandhi’s statement, Mr Chouhan asserted the BJP has been saying for several years that the Congress was anti-poor, anti-Dalit, anti-tribal and anti-backward classes. “Rahul Gandhi accepted this truth yesterday,” he said.

Addressing an event in Panchkula on Wednesday, Mr Gandhi said the system was heavily aligned against lower castes and that he knows the system from inside as his grandmother and father were Prime Ministers and later he used to visit the PM’s house when Manmohan Singh lived there. The Congress leader claimed that 90 per cent of the country’s population, including Dalits, OBCs, tribal communities and the minorities, did not have representation in the country's narrative and power structure, and said his party aims to ensure their participation in the country's progress.

The BJP leader alleged the Congress and other constituents of the INDIA bloc have been engaged in taking away the rights of Dalits, backwards and tribals while pursuing their politics of appeasement.

“The BJP will not allow this conspiracy to go on. People are seeing the truth as the INDIA alliance policy of appeasement stands exposed. Now people will reply to it. The BJP will form its government by winning 370 seats on its own and with the NDA getting more than 400 seats (in the Lok Sabha polls),” he ad