BJP is 'anti-reservation, anti-Dalit and anti-Constitution': Opposition leaders

New Delhi: Terming the BJP "anti-reservation, anti-Dalit and anti-Constitution", opposition leaders Thursday said the party will witness defeat in the coming elections and they called for a 'Bharat bandh' to demand an ordinance on reservation roster.

A march was organised by the Joint Forum for Academic and Social Justice. After the march, several political leaders addressed the gathering at Jantar Mantar as slogans of 'Jai Bhim', 'Inquilab Zindabad' reverberated through the air.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is against this system which is "trying to destroy" social justice in every form.

"I spoke to our party leaders and they will raise this issue in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The maths is not in our favour in lower and upper houses but the upcoming elections will make sure that it will also become in our favour," he said.

Earlier in media, issues were raised that the current government is going to remove the reservation policy, Sisodia said.

"Through the 10 per cent reservation (in jobs and education to the general category poor) and the 13-point roster (for the appointment of teachers), they will remove the social security which was given by the reservation policy," he added.

Delhi Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said the central government is implementing its decisions through courts as no one can point a finger on court's judgment and alleged the government wants to end B R Ambedkar's constitution.

Former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha accused the government of hatching a conspiracy to end reservation.

"There are a large number of SC, ST and OBC people. The government wants to end the reservation policy. They are trying to snatch the rights given by the Constitution to SC, ST and OBC people. There is a conspiracy going on and we are on the roads against it," the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief alleged.

He was the Union minister of state for HRD in the Narendra Modi government. Last year, he quit the BJP-led NDA and resigned from the Union Council of Ministers.

He was upset with the BJP after it asserted that the RLSP would not be given more than two seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, even as it went out of way to accommodate Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by agreeing that the saffron party and the JD(U) would fight equal number of seats.

Kushwaha said there is anger brewing among the people of the country and if the government will not address the issue, it will have to pay a heavy price.

"When the government can bring a bill within 24 hours to give 10 per cent reservation to the upper class people, why can't they bring another bill on reservation roster," he asked.

RJD leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav termed the Modi government "anti-Dalit, anti-Constitution" and alleged it wants to bring back the Varna (caste) system that was in existence centuries ago.

"They want to replace Ambedkar's constitution with MS Golwalkar's (RSS leader) 'Bunch of Thoughts' and the 'Nagpuri law'," he alleged.

"We warn them that no one has the guts to snatch our rights. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had called for review of reservation policy and said it should be discontinued. These people are testing our patience and we should awaken now," he said.

Through the 13 point roster, they do not want Dalits to become professors, he said, adding the government brought the 10 per cent reservation without conducting any survey or study.

Gujarat MLA and Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani said the huge crowd which had gathered at Jantar Mantar against the 13-point roster can be the last nail in the coffin of the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Referring to characters of the epic Mahabharata, Mevani alleged that on the "directions of a 'Dronacharya' sitting in Nagpur, 'Duryodhan' and 'Dushasan' in Delhi have devised a formula to cut the thumbs of 'Eklavyas' belonging to Dalit and Adivasi community.

Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid said the coming elections will be fought between Ambedkar and Golwalkar.

"Those who talk against the Constitution and in favour of Modi and burning the Constitution are safe. The government wants to destroy the Constitution. Modi had said sewer cleaning is a spiritual exercise. I want to tell him that if you feel it is a spiritual exercise, you go and enjoy it and allow us to work and study," he said.

The UGC had announced in March that an individual department should be considered as the base unit to calculate the number of teaching posts to be reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates following an order by the Allahabad High Court in April in 2017.

The Human Resource Development Ministry had filed a special leave petition against the court order which was rejected by the Supreme Court.

The march was attended by members of the Delhi University Teachers' Association, Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association and the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union, Dalit organisations and student organisations.