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Thakre opposes religion-based reservations

Bharatiya Janata Party president Kushabhau Thakre said on Tuesday that his party was not in favour of reservations on the basis of religion.

Addressing a press conference in Bhopal, he said the incidents in the Lok Sabha over the Women's Reservation Bill "was shameful". The intention of some parties, which constitute a minor group in Parliament, was to somehow scuttle the bill by raising the demand for reservation for minorities and others, he contended.

Pointing out that reservations on the basis of religion was in force during the pre-Independence period, Thakre said the Constitution-makers had also considered this issue but did not make any such provision. ''We are against reviving religion-based reservations," he added.

Thakre said in several countries, including England, women had to fight for equality for a very long period. They did not even have the right to franchise in one state. ''It is an achievement of our democracy that women got equal rights since Independence,'' he added.

Replying to a question about the demand being raised by some members of Parliament for initiating steps to prevent frequent elections, Thakre said the BJP was in favour of amending several constitutional provisions. Refusing to go into details, he said the issues to be covered would become clear once a review commission was constituted, he added.

Asked about the move to carve out new states, Thakre expressed confidence that the government would not face any problem as all major parties were committed to it. He said the Akali stand against including Udam Singh Nagar in the proposed Uttaranchal state would not adversely affect the move for the formation of new states.

UNI

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