In Parliament, CPM had called Centre's EWS reservation bill an election ploy

CPM

New Delhi: With just months to go for the Assembly elections in Kerala, is the decision to give reservation for the economically weaker sections among forward communities a ploy to win the election? Yes, if you go by the arguments that the CPM had raised in Parliament last year.

The party had argued in Parliament that granting reservation on the basis of economic status alone would not stand up to the scrutiny of courts.

The Modi government had introduced a constitutional amendment bill for reservation for forward communities in January last year before the Lok Sabha elections. After criticising the bill, the CPM voted in its favour in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

CPI general secretary D Raja, who had argued that the bill was against the intentions of the Constitution, walked out of the House during the vote. 

The Congress, Kerala Congress (M) and the NCP supported the bill, while the Muslim League opposed it in both the houses. In the Lok Sabha, the RSP also supported the bill.

Even while supporting it, Congress’ Kapil Sibal told the Rajya Sabha that the bill will lose if it is challenged in court.

The very first sentence of Elamaram Kareem's speech during the discussion on the bill in the Rajya Sabha was that the reservation bill was a ploy to win the elections.

He raised a few other arguments during the discussions. The criterion of reservation for those earning less than Rs 1 lakh is questionable. Will the reservation really benefit disadvantaged workers, he asked. “Can reservation uplift the economically backward? My answer is no,” Kareem had said. He said he supported the bill in principle, but the government knew that the bill would not stand up to judicial scrutiny.

In the Rajya Sabha, the CPM supported the DMK's resolution that the bill be referred to the Select Committee. Kareem and KK Ragesh introduced an amendment for job reservation in the private sector as well, but it was rejected.

While Jose K Mani had opposed the amendment, Abdul Wahab of the Muslim League supported it. Even in October 2003, when the Vajpayee government had decided to provide reservation for the economically weaker sections of the forward communities, the CPM had criticised it saying it was an opportunistic move ahead of the elections.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.