New Delhi (TIP): The Union government on Thursday, Aug 27, reached out to a group demanding caste-based reservations in education and government jobs be replaced by income-based quotas, a week after the little-known group held a stir in Jantar Mantar that was attended by the group’s members Harsh Dubey, Ran Bahadur Singh Chauhan and Mrityunjay Pathak.
The government was represented by Union minister JP Nadda, who earlier held negotiations with Cockroach Janata Party leaders whose protest against paper leaks in July eventually resulted in the resignation of then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Nadda posted on X referring to the meeting with the group that gathered for protest at Jantar Mantar on August 21. However, he did not mention the demands put forth by the group nor did he elaborate on what transpired at the meeting.
“Following the movement that took place at Jantar Mantar on 21 August, cordial discussions were held, as per the pre-determined schedule, with Shri Harsh Dubey, Shri Ran Bahadur Singh Chauhan, and Shri Mrityunjay Pathak, members of the team. In this connection, we will meet again soon,” he wrote.
The government had not indicated earlier that a meeting with the group had been scheduled.
A senior BJP leader said the government is keen to prevent the repetition of the CJP protest that stretched on for over 30 days. The standoff between the CJP and the government escalated after police used force against the group as it tried to march to Parliament on July 20.
Nadda’s meeting with Reservation Hatao Andolan representatives drew questions from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which had led a “Gen Z” protest at Jantar Mantar last month over the alleged NEET paper leak.
Both sought clarity on the government’s position on the protesters’ demand for a review of caste-based reservation.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke asked Nadda to explain the Modi government’s stand on the anti-reservation movement and questioned what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to say about the August 21 protest.
“What does the Prime Minister have to say about the movement of 21 August, whose name Mr Nadda is not taking? The country wants to know,” he wrote in a post on X.
AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj also sought clarity from Nadda on the government’s position, referring to the demand for reconsideration of reservations.
“The main demand of the BJP Savarna Morcha movement was a reconsideration of reservations — please shed light on that,” Bharadwaj said in a post on X.
Nadda and Union minister Jitendra Singh had negotiated with the representatives of the CJP, who ended their protest after the resignation of the then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month.
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