Ram Jethmalani questions RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s quota remarks, writes to PM

Expelled BJP MP Ram Jethmalani has raised questions over RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s views on reservation policy, saying these can be inferred as “an election bribe” to voters belonging to the upper castes in the Bihar elections.

Jethmalani, a noted lawyer who was engaged as counsel for governments of Bihar and Tamil Nadu to argue in favour of the Mandal Commission in the Supreme Court decades ago, wrote a letters to Bhagwat as also Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.

He asked whether Bhagwat thinks the government is in a position to bring a constitutional amendment to review reservation or it will later be dismissed as a ‘jumla’.Terming the RSS chief’s remarks as “most inopportune” and having come at somewhat “unfortunate timing”, Jethmalani wondered why Bhagwat expected a constitutional amendment to be passed when ordinary legislation could not get through the Parliament.

“I am sure this will not even win the Patel votes because they are too intelligent to believe that the government can make this immoral and unconstitutional promise at anytime in the near future,” Jethmalani said, addressing Bhagwat as a “venerable friend”.

Weeks before the Bihar polls, Bhagwat kicked up a row when he called for a “social review” of the reservation policy in an interview to RSS organs ‘Organiser’ and ‘Panchjanya’.

In a damage control move, RSS issued a statement rejecting reports that Bhagwat called for ending positive discrimination for backward communities and BJP too came out to clarify that it respected 100 per cent the reservation rights of SCs, STs and other backward castes.