BJP MP CP Thakur says his remarks distorted on scrapping of reservations

Under attack from opposition and allies for reportedly suggesting that reservations should be done away with, BJP MP C P Thakur today sought to wriggle out from controversy saying his remarks were distorted by the media.

"My remarks on Reservation Policy in India has been distorted by print and electronic media," he said in a statement a day after LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan, senior Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi and leaders of other parties criticised him for questioning relevance of the quota policy.

Thakur, who is BJP national vice-president and former Union minister, said that he was asked a question by the electronic media about the Congress proposing to provide 4.5 per cent sub-quota for Muslims in the reservation for the OBCs to which he had replied that raising such a sensitive issue in the middle of general elections was totally unwarranted. "However, the media has distorted my comments on the reservation policy," he said.

The senior BJP leader, at the same time, stuck to his criticism of Congress for allegedly playing with the reservation policy to further its vote bank politics in the elections as it had failed to uplift socio-economic status of the SC/ST, OBC and Muslims.

Thakur's remarks created a storm in political circle yesterday, with Paswan, who has recently forged alliance with the BJP, slammed the BJP leader saying that "he has no understanding of reservation policy."
Chaturvedi, a senior Congress leader, has lashed out at the octogenarian BJP leader for having "anti-Dalit bias."