Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Amid protests seeking a reform in caste-based reservations by the “upper-castes”, BJP national spokesperson Ajay Alok’s remarks have drawn sharp pushback from voices backing changes in the quota system and the permanent scrapping of the UGC’s now-stayed equity norms. In a video captioned, “My personal views only on UGC and Reservation”, Alok said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed upper-caste concerns by introducing the 10% Economically Weaker Sections quota in 2019.
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He also cited the constitutional status given to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) and the Rohini Commission’s work on sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Alok described the UGC equity-regulations controversy and protests around the reservation as “an attempt to deepen caste divisions and weaken Hindu unity”.
“You received a 10% reservation under the Economically Weaker Sections quota because Modi ji cares about every section of society,” Alok said in the video.
Reservation reform activists, however, accused him of denying upper-caste citizens the right to speak on policies that affect them. Some said the Supreme Court’s stay on the UGC regulations came only after public mobilisation. Others invoked Alok’s own interventions on issues affecting Muslim women to question his argument that only communities directly affected should speak.
The exchange has added a fresh flashpoint to the widening mobilisation around the now-stayed UGC regulations, caste-based reservation and the SC/ST Act. Alok posted the video on X on Monday, hours after quota-reform activist Ajeet Bharti, who runs the Reservation Hatao Andolan handle on the platform, was booked under the SC/ST Act over alleged remarks against Azad Samaj Party chief and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad.
HOW ROW OVER UGC EQUITY RULES FED QUOTA-REFORM MOBILISATION?
The UGC’s 2026 equity regulations, meant to address caste discrimination in higher education, came under criticism from unreserved-category students and “upper-caste” groups who argued that their exclusion from specified protections could leave them vulnerable to false complaints. The Supreme Court stayed the rules in January, calling parts of them prima facie vague and being open to be misused.
The protests, discontent and the controversy gave fresh momentum to an online campaign that had been seeking changes to caste-based reservation, including a review of its impact, sub-categorisation and the use of economic criteria.
The campaign moved to the streets on August 21, when NEET aspirant Harsh Dubey, held a major protest at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Prominent quota reform activists, including Ajeet Bharti, amplified the mobilisation, which also drew participation from groups such as General Sena, Chanakya Sena and Karni Sena.
On August 21, thousands gathered at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar under the Reservation Reform Andolan banner, demanding that quota benefits be tied more closely to economic needs and reach the castes who have not benefited from them.
QUOTA REFORM PROTESTS PUT BJP ON STICKY WICKET
The ongoing protests are uncomfortable for the BJP because people from unreserved categories are among its core support base. Other than political leaders representing Dalit and OBC communities, even some of the BJP’s allies have criticised the protests surrounding caste-based reservations.
Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief and Union Minister Chirag Paswan said reservation “is not something that can be ended at anyone’s demand, nor is it charity given to anyone.”
Republican Party of India (Athawale) chief Ramdas Athawale, the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, went further and called for sedition charges against those opposing or seeking the abolition of the reservation. Samajwadi Party chief and Kanauj MP Akhilesh Yadav, too, said the reservation is not “khairat“, or charity, and that it “was, is and will remain.”
The increasingly sharp exchanges could give the issue political weight in Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly elections are due in 2027.
The BJP, meanwhile, has been seen treading with caution but has had some engagement with the protesters without endorsing their demands.
A day after the Jantar Mantar protest on August 21, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak met Harsh Dubey and representatives of the reservation-reform movement, held a joint press conference with them, and said their demands would be placed before the BJP’s central leadership. He also said a delegation would meet a Union minister within 48 hours.
It was amid this political churn that Alok’s seven-minute, 58-second video appeared on X. In it, the BJP spokesperson sought to present the Modi government’s EWS quota and its moves on the NCBC as evidence that it had addressed upper-caste concerns, even as he questioned the quota-reform mobilisation’s direction.
BJP SPOKESPERSON AJAY ALOK’S ARGUMENT ON EWS AND OBCS
In the video, Ajay Alok said the debate should focus on communities that have remained outside the effective reach of the reservation. Referring to the Rohini Commission, he said it had examined how “2,598 backward, extremely backward and Dalit castes” had not received quota benefits.
“Shouldn’t those 2,598 castes be the real concern, rather than upper-caste society?” he asked.
The commission, constituted in 2017, was specifically tasked with examining the sub-categorisation of OBCs. Its report, submitted in 2023, identified a list of 2,399 backward castes and communities, including 837 classified as most backward. It did not examine SC or ST reservations.
“You received a 10% reservation under the Economically Weaker Sections quota because Modi ji cares about every section of society. He knows that upper castes have been, are, and will remain his strength. He has shown through his actions that he cares for the country and for every community,” Alok said in the video.
The 10% EWS quota was enabled through the 103rd Constitutional Amendment in 2019 and was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2022. It applies to economically weaker persons outside communities already eligible for SC, ST and OBC reservation.
Alok also said the OBC Commission “was never a constitutional body” before the Modi government gave it that status. The NCBC was made a constitutional body through the 102nd Constitutional Amendment in 2018.
Calling the UGC controversy a “conspiracy”, Alok said it was meant “to spread hatred in society, inflame caste divisions, make people fight… and divide the Hindus.” He urged supporters to trust the BJP and Modi, saying no community would be wronged.
Ajay Alok is a former JD(U) leader who joined the BJP in April 2023 after being expelled from the Nitish Kumar-led party. He has been a BJP national spokesperson since October 2023.
RESERVATION REFORM ACTIVISTS QUESTION AJAY ALOK’S STAND
Reservation Hatao Andolan (RHA), the online movement leading the quota-reform protests, hit back. It questioned why Alok believed upper-caste groups should not speak on reservation when they saw the issue as directly affecting them. The group also asked why the BJP leader had spoken against triple talaq and nikah halala, issues concerning Muslims, if only the communities directly affected could raise such questions.
“You too spoke about triple talaq and [nikah] halala. What did they have to do with you? Make an argument, not a false argument,” the RHA handle posted on X
Another handle with the same name said, “Ajay Alok ji, you said: who gave upper castes the right to speak about reviewing reservation? Who are upper-castes to do so? My question is, are you the custodian of upper-caste society? Who gave you that right?”
General category activist Neha Das made a similar point, asking why Alok spoke on triple talaq and nikah halala “if we cannot speak about a creamy layer within the SC/ST community or about reviewing reservation”.
Reservation reform activist Abhinay Pandey argued that the Supreme Court’s stay on the UGC equity regulations was a result of street protests by the “upper castes”. “But when did the court grant the stay? Only after we came onto the streets and protested,” Pandey said. He asked why the BJP had only spoken about a review of the norms and not assured that they would be rolled back.
Pandey also linked the debate to the FIR registered against Ajeet Bharti under the SC/ST Act, writing, “If a prominent face like Ajeet Bharti can be booked under it, imagine what an ordinary person may face”.
Ajeet Bharti was booked under the SC/ST Act over alleged casteist and abusive remarks against Chandrashekhar Azad during an August 22 YouTube broadcast. He denied using any casteist word, called the FIR “pressure-driven” and said it “won’t survive two minutes in court”.
For now, the UGC rules are under judicial stay and government reconsideration. The row over the UGC rules has widened into a political battle over the meaning, beneficiaries and future of caste-based reservation system in India. The BJP’s challenge will be to engage the quota-reform mobilisation without appearing to dilute its stated commitment to constitutionally guaranteed social justice.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
