Lack of unity led to RJD victory: Paswan

By Our Staff Reporter

GUNTUR, JUNE 15. The Union Minister for Communications, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, has said the views of his party (Lok Jan Shakti) about the re-admission of the Trinamool Congress in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will be made known only after the NDA's apex body takes the final decision.

Replying to a query at a press conference here on Friday, Mr. Paswan said nobody was aware if Ms. Mamata Banerjee made it clear that she would rejoin the NDA. She was only meeting the leaders. If the NDA meeting was called for, the Lok Jan Shakti would express its views.

To another query on Bihar, he said the naxalites were being blamed for attack on upper castes and the Ranbir Sena was being blamed for the atrocities against the dalits. But, ``it was the Laloo Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal Government and its members who are responsible for the attacks on all communities.'' Asked if Lok Jan Shakti was not demanding the imposition of the President's rule in the State, he said his party had been consistently making the demand. Agitations to that effect were going on. But, until the NDA partners achieved majority in the Rajya Sabha, it would become impossible to impose the President's rule.

Asked if Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav had any magic wand through which he was able to bring back his party to power, Mr. Paswan said the unity displayed by the Lok Jan Shakthi, Samata Party and the BJP amongst themselves in the Lok Sabha polls was not sustained in the Assembly elections. Differences had cropped up among these parties.

Had the alliance worked out properly, Mr. Laloo Yadav's party would have been trounced. Even now, he managed to get only 125 out of 325 seats. He was able to run the show with the help of ``so-called democratic'' Congress and the Communists, said Mr. Paswan.

SC quota to go up

Mr. Paswan said the SCs and STs constituted 24.8 per cent of the population as per the 1991 census. Since the Supreme Court restricted the reservation to 50 per cent, it could not be proportionately increased. The increase was not because there was a spurt in the population among them, but some new castes were included in the list of SCs.

As per the Mandal Commission report, the OBC quota was put at 27 per cent. The SCs and the STs together were getting a reservation of 22.5 per cent by then. The sum worked out to be 49.5 per cent. Therefore, the reservations could not be proportionately increased.

The number of SCs and STs had gone up further. Therefore, the Minister said, he urged the Prime Minister to amend the Constitution and accord higher percentage of reservation, based on the 2001 census.

The Union Law Minister was preparing a draft Bill to this effect and it would be submitted for the consideration of the Cabinet soon.

He criticised the various parties for their continued attempts to delay the Women's Reservation Bill. The country would prosper only when women progressed. Increased awareness among women would keep the family and the country advancing, he said.

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