IN A major move aimed at regaining his hold over the Muslims and other minorities and targeted at the UPA government, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav would on Wednesday bring a resolution in the Vidhan Sabha to demand reservation for dalits among Muslims and Christians on the lines of those listed under the Article 341 of the Constitution.
It would be forwarded to the Union Government for getting the clause-3 of the Constitution (SC) order, 1950 scrapped. The resolution reads, “UP government demands that clause-3 of the Constitution (SC) Order, 1950, which excludes dalit sections among Christians and Muslims out of the scheduled caste reservation, be scrapped immediately. Our government demands that the sections that have been listed in the scheduled category under the Article-341 of the Constitution should get the reservation facility irrespective of their religion.”
The resolution uses words like the Uttar Pradesh Ki Samajwadi Sarkar” (UP’s present socialist government) and the Samajwadi Party led government.
Whether Yadav has taken the decision in consultation with his main coalition partner the Rashtriya Lok Dal, would be known only in the Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday. Stand taken by the Congress on the issue would also be keenly watched. The BJP, however, had decided to oppose the resolution, said state BJP president Keshri Nath Tripathi. “This is vote bank politics,” he said adding, “the resolution is not in the larger interest of the society.”
Significantly, Yadav’s move comes at a point when the Rajendra Sachar Committee’s report is likely to be debated in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament.
The resolution further points out “The sections of society that have been included in the scheduled caste reservation list may be of any religion. The facilities of scheduled caste reservation should be extended to all those following the same profession, be they Christians or Muslims.” It also says that depriving the Christian and Muslim dalits of the reservation facility was not only against Article 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution, but was also not based on principle of justice. “We are of the view that denial of reservation to Christian and Muslim dalits was against the Constitution in the same manner in which reservation could not be provided to any class on the basis of religion,” the resolution further reads.