"Despite having 99 MPs, no voice was raised in Parliament": Mayawati targets Congress over creamy layer in SC/ST

In a series of posts on X, Mayawati said that the Congress National President's remarks that his party will consult NGOs and lawyers make it clear that the Congress is in favour of sub-classification.

"After the BSP press conference yesterday, we got to know about the statement given by the National President of the Congress Party, in which the credit for reservation in the statement of the Congress Party before ST-ST has been given not to Baba Saheb Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar but to Pandit Nehru and Gandhiji, in which there is no true," she said.

"Whereas in reality, the entire credit for reservation goes to Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, whom the Congress people conspired to prevent from entering the Constituent Assembly and also defeated in the elections. He was also forced to resign from the post of Law Minister," she added.

Further, the BSP Chief said that the National President of Congress said that before disclosing the party's stand on sub-classification of SC and ST classes in the country, his party will consult NGOs and lawyers etc., which makes it clear that Congress is in favour of sub-classification.

"Congress has also spoken in a vague manner about the creamy layer. Despite Congress having 99 MPs, no voice was raised in the Parliament till the adjournment to nullify the Supreme Court's decision, whereas this party has won these seats in the name of saving the Constitution and reservation," Mayawati said further.

Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Saturday that it is "wrong to talk about creamy layer" and said the BJP-led government should have brought a bill in the budget session of Parliament on the issue.

He further said that if the Central government wanted, it could have resolved this issue by bringing a constitutional amendment in this budget session itself. "If the Modi government brings a new bill within 2-3 hours, then this was also possible," he added.

"On one hand, the government is slowly eliminating jobs by selling government PSUs. On top of that, the BJP's Dalit-tribal mentality is constantly attacking reservation. We are in consultation with various people - intellectuals, experts, NGOs - to decide on the nuances of other subjects of judgement," said Congress National President.

Notably, the Supreme Court's earlier ruled that states have the power to sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs) and said that the authority concerned, while deciding if the class is adequately represented, must calculate adequacy based on effective and not quantitative representation.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday that there is no provision for creamy layer in SCs and STs reservation in the Constitution drafted by BR Ambedkar, and the NDA government is bound to follow that Constitution.

Prior to this, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, held a detailed discussion on the Supreme Court judgment regarding the sub-categorisation of reservations for SCs and STs as outlined in the Constitution. (ANI)