Nadda Meets ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’ Leaders, CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke Seeks Clarity On Quotas

Union Minister J P Nadda held a "cordial discussion" on Thursday with representatives of the 'Reservation Hatao Andolan' following their August 21 protests.

The meeting prompted Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj to demand the Centre clarify its stance on caste-based quotas.

"What does the Prime Minister have to say about the movement of 21 August, whose name Mr Nadda is not taking? The country wants to know," Dipke wrote on X.

Bharadwaj also posted on X: "The main demand of the BJP Savarna Morcha movement was a reconsideration of reservations — please shed light on that".

Nadda Meets Protest Leaders

Nadda announced that the government and the movement representatives will meet again soon.

"Following the movement that took place at Jantar Mantar on 21 August, cordial discussions were held, as per the pre-determined schedule, with Harsh Dubey, Ran Bahadur Singh Chauhan, and Mrityunjay Pathak, members of the team. In this connection, we will meet again soon," Nadda said.

The Union minister did not disclose the specific venue of the meeting. He also avoided sharing further details regarding the discussions.

Protests At Jantar Mantar

Demonstrators organised protests in Delhi on August 21 under the banner of an Instagram-based page called 'Reservation Hatao Andolan'.

Protesters gathered at Jantar Mantar without official permission. Delhi Police had previously directed the group to hold their demonstration at Ramlila Maidan instead.

Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in heavy numbers in the area. Police subsequently detained several protesters at the Jantar Mantar site during the event.

Key Demands For Reform

The Reservation Hatao Andolan has put forward several specific demands:

• Scrapping caste-based reservation and prioritising economic criteria to determine eligibility for government support.

• Implementing a creamy-layer standard or reinforcing income-driven exclusions inside current quota categories.

• Offering specific assistance to financially disadvantaged individuals via broader scholarship programmes, tuition help, coaching and educational support.

• Undertaking policy reviews concerning SCs, STs and OBCs, including higher education policies, the UGC framework and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.