Samajwadi Party Chief and former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday extended his support for the Bharat Bandh called by some groups over community-based reservation, noting that "public movements" put a check on "unbridled government". The former UP CM took to social media platform X to share his views on the issue. He said, "The mass movement to protect reservation is a positive effort. It will instil new consciousness among the exploited and deprived and will prove to be a shield of people's power against any kind of tampering with reservation. Peaceful movement is a democratic right," he posted in Hindi.
Furthermore, Akhilesh Yadav added, "Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar had already warned that the Constitution will only work if the intentions of those implementing it are correct. When the governments in power will tamper with the Constitution and the rights given by it through fraud, scams and scandals, then the public will have to take to the streets. Public movements put a check on unbridled government."
Notably, twenty-one organisations across the country have called for a Bharat Bandh against the order of the 7-judges constitutional bench of the Supreme Court allowing sub-categorisation in the SC and ST categories. The apex court order paved the way for the introduction of creamy layers in the SC and ST quotas akin to what is in the OBC category. The organisations opposed this decision and said that it would harm the basic principles of reservation.
