2024 Lok Sabha polls: Congress promises to remove 50% limit on reservations

Months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress on Tuesday promised to remove the reservation quota limit of 50 per cent if it is elected to power. The party shared a banner on its social media handle, which reads: "Congress will remove the 50 per cent limit on reservations."

On Monday, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said that the INDIA alliance, if elected to power, would "throw out" the 50 per cent cap on reservation. He said there would be no reduction in the reservation of Dalits and Adivasis. 

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"I am giving you a guarantee that the backward sections of society will get their rights. This is the biggest issue - social and economic injustice," Gandhi said while speaking in Jharkhand. 

Gandhi also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi used to say that he is an OBC but when the demand for a caste census was made, he stated that there are only two castes -- the rich and the poor. "When the time came to give rights to OBCs, Dalits, tribals, Modi ji says there are no castes, and when it is time to get votes, he says he is an OBC," Gandhi claimed.

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In 192, the Supreme Court had capped reservations at 50 per cent. However, now some regional parties have been advocating for more reservations for some sections of people based on their population. 

As per the existing norms, 27 per cent reservation is given to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 15 per cent to the Scheduled Castes (SCs), and 7.5 per cent to the Scheduled Tribes (STs). 

In May 2021, the Supreme Court struck down the Maharashtra government's decision to exceed 50 per cent reservation for the Maratha community in education and jobs. The apex court said, "The 2018 Maharashtra state law violates the right to equality. We won't re-examine the 1992 verdict which capped reservation at 50%."