BJP takes up outreach to dispel fear of ending reservations

The State leadership has reportedly directed all party candidates and leaders to hold street corner meetings in their respective constituencies and tell people that the BJP did not have any plan either to change the Constitution or to end reservations.

Hyderabad: The ongoing narrative that the RSS and BJP were working towards changing the Constitution and ending reservations to the weaker sections has put the saffron party leadership on the backfoot. The BJP leadership has started damage control exercises to come out of the situation and has reportedly directed the party’s State unit leaders to take up initiatives to allay the fears of Dalits and tribals by assuring them that reservations were safe.

The BJP finds itself caught in this situation after several party senior leaders spoke either about amending or changing the Constitution while raising the ‘Abki Baar 400 Paar, Teesri Baar Modi Sarkar’ slogan only to end up giving ammunition to the opposition. Such remarks created fear among the weaker sections forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union Home Minister Amit Shah to come out with statements to dispel the fears. The BJP central leadership has asked the State leaders to allay fears among Dalits and backward communities by assuring that reservations are safe, unlike the opposition’s claim that attempts were being made to change the Constitution that guarantees their quota rights. The State leadership has reportedly directed all party candidates and leaders to hold street corner meetings in their respective constituencies and tell people that the BJP did not have any plan either to change the Constitution or to end reservations.

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BJP State president G Kishan Reddy, Rajya Sabha member K Laxman and other senior leaders were holding press conferences on a daily basis and trying to clarify on the issue. “PM Modi himself has given a “guarantee” that the Constitution would not be changed. Our leaders are meeting and campaigning to dispel these lies being spread by the opposition,” a BJP leader said.

Sources in the party said the party had got a report from the grassroot level that the Congress was successful in taking the issue of reservation to the people and that there was a lot of fear and apprehension among the people over the issue. The party fears that if the narrative continues, it could affect its prospects in the Lok Sabha polls.

Interestingly, the BJP has stopped raising the slogan “Aab Ki Baar 400 par’ as the opposition has been using it to strengthen its claims that the BJP was preparing to change the Constitution and end reservations.