Make reservation fundamental right, Tejashwi Yadav to govt after SC ruling

In view of the Supreme Court verdict on quota in jobs and promotion, Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav on Monday demanded that the BJP government at the Centre brings amendments to the Constitution to make reservation a "fundamental right".

He also dared the government to immediately file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the decision that states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments and there was no fundamental right to claim quota in promotions.

With the Assembly elections in Bihar due later this year, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader sought to build pressure on the Nitish Kumar government, tweeting, "We challenge the NDA government at the Centre to either immediately file a review petition against the Supreme Court order or amend the Constitution in the current session of parliament to make reservation a fundamental right".

"If this does not happen, then we will fight for it right from the streets to Parliament," he added.

The BJP is a partner in the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar.

Coming down heavily on the BJP and its allies, the JD(U) and LJP, Yadav asked Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, LJP's Ram Vilas Paswan and Republic Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale to make their stand clear on the issue.

"Reservation is a constitutional scheme. How will this country move forward if the provisions of the constitution are not followed. Respected leaders Ram Vilas Paswan-ji, Nitish Kumar-ji, Ramdas Athawale-ji, all of you are supporting the BJP which is hell bent on ending the reservation," he said.