Nehru, Gandhi had opposed political quota for SCs, STs:BJP MLC

Noisy scenes were witnessed in the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Wednesday when Leader of Opposition Pravin Darekar of BJP claimed that first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi had opposed political reservation to SCs and STs during the round-table meeting of the Constituent Assembly of India.

Darekar was speaking in the Upper House on the Constitution (126th) Amendment Bill, which proposes to extend quota to SC/STs in Lok Sabha and state assemblies by another 10 years.

The bill was ratified by both the legislative assembly and the council in a special one-day session on Wednesday.

"At the time of the constituent assembly meeting, Babasaheb Ambedkar (architect of the Constitution) had moved a proposal to reserve some electoral constituencies for SC and ST communities, but Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi had opposed it," Darekar said.

His comments caused a furore in the Upper House with MLCs Kapil Patil and Congress leader Sharad Ranpise raising objection.

"Darekar has used the same reference material which was used by the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis, but he has distorted the facts. He should take his words back," Kapil Patil demanded.

Darekar, however, stuck to his words, drawing an angry reaction from the Congress, which is one of the constituents in the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation.

Amid din, council chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar adjourned the House for 15 minutes.

He later assured the legislators of looking into the details and removing "inaccurate references" if needed.