Cong steers clear of Bharadwaj's claim of Nehru opposing quota

Congress today steered clear of former Union Minister H R Bharadwaj's claim that Jawaharlal Nehru had opposed quota on caste and communal lines.

"I have not read the book and hence will not be able to comment. Moreover, if anything has been written in the book, it could also be his (Bharadwaj) personal opinion," Congress spokesperson Raj Babbar said.

He was replying to a question at the AICC briefing that the former prime minister favoured meritocracy and was against reservations.

According to reports, in a book titled 'Nehru-Gazing at Tomorrow,' scheduled to be released soon, Bharadwaj writes that Nehru's idea of social justice was to create educational opportunities and reservations at some preliminary stages, not at later stages.
 

"Because he (Nehru) believed that his ambition to build India with first-rate citizens (meritorious) should not be constrained by too much reservation at all levels," writes Bhardwaj, who till recently was Governor of Karnataka.