Union minister and LJP(RV) chief Chirag Paswan on Saturday demanded resignations of Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) founder and Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and his son, Bihar minister Santosh Kumar Suman, for advocating a review of scheduled caste (SC) reservation.
Speaking to reporters in Patna, Paswan underscored simmering differences within the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over the issue into an open confrontation. “If the father-son duo wanted such changes, they should first quit their ministerial posts—one at the Centre and one in the state—and then raise the matter in Parliament,” he said.
Reservation, he stressed, is not charity but a constitutional right rooted in historical untouchability and social discrimination, not an economic measure open to periodic review.
The flashpoint is the call for reviewing SC/ST quotas and introducing sub-categorisation.
“We are in favour…We are simply asking for a review of the SC/ST quotas. We want quota benefits to reach the least privileged among us,” Suman told reporters on Friday.
Manjhi hits back
Manjhi has backed the line, framing it as social justice and citing the Supreme Court’s 2024 judgment permitting sub-classifications based on empirical data.
Paswan’s stance is in line with that of his late father Ram Vilas Paswan, who had fiercely opposed a separate “Mahadalit” category introduced in the state more than a decade ago by the then chief minister Nitish Kumar.
When Manjhi’s attention was drawn to Paswan’s latest retort, he said, “It is not us, but Chirag Paswan who should resign as he is unable to understand the point Santosh and I have been making in the broader interests of Dalits.” “It is a fact that among the Dalits, there are castes which are relatively more vulnerable and these deserve targeted welfare which can happen after introducing a sub-category…” the Gaya MP said.
