The row over reservations for OBCs is set to heat up in Bangalore with the Bahujan Samaj Party, a minor player in State politics, hitting the streets with a series of rallies and public meetings on the issue. The party is protesting the Supreme Court's order on 27% reservation for OBCs in higher education.
According to the party leaders, the principal culprit is the Congress party which has led to this impasse. Addressing a press conference, Karnataka BSP general secretary Gopinath said the Congress had taken the people for a ride by giving false assurances and by going back on many of its promises.
"The government is not honest about reservations, their interests lay elsewhere," he declared. He also charged the government of lying on the existence of a census. "It is not true there is no census. In 2002, the Integrated Socio Economic Survey had been conducted to identify people below poverty line in all the villages in India. In this survey, caste categorization was also done. Villages constituted about 75% of the country's population. Why has the government hidden the findings of this survey from the Supreme Court," he charged.
BSP will be conducting a 1000-strong bike rally on April 14, apart from about 40 public meetings in the city, to mobilize public opinion on the issue.
