Mayawati Accuses Rahul Gandhi of Anti-Reservation Mindset

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati accused Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress of harboring an "anti-reservation mindset" on Sunday. The criticism followed protests at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, where demonstrators demanded that reservations be based on economic grounds rather than the caste system.

Mayawati argued that replacing reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes with economic criteria would undermine constitutional safeguards and the effort to build an egalitarian society. She asserted that the demand to implement economic reservations against existing caste-based quotas is not in the national interest. While acknowledging that economic-based reservations already exist in India, she claimed that government failures in poverty alleviation are the result of corruption and systemic faults rather than a lack of economic criteria.

The BSP leader specifically highlighted a contradiction in Rahul Gandhi's actions, noting that while he held a dharna outside the Parliament police station to seek an FIR for a victim, he and other Congress leaders failed to reason with the anti-quota protesters nearby. Mayawati urged all governments to stop providing protection to anti-reservation elements to ensure the continued protection of marginalized communities.