Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The Slogan of Crossing 400, Constitutional Amendment, and Reservation – Why This Is the Biggest Issue

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: As much as the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 is dull, there is more curiosity about the predictions of changes that will happen after the results. The opposition claims that if Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister again, the Constitution will be changed and this can result in the abolition of reservation. The opposition is also trying to show the BJP’s slogan of ‘400 Paar’ to the public from this perspective. 

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also rejected this. He has declared in an election rally that even if Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar comes, he cannot abolish reservation, who himself made the Constitution. 

Then why does the issue of constitutional amendment and reservation arise again and again?

In March this year, BJP MP Anant Hegde had said that the Constitution has to be amended. Congress has fundamentally distorted the Constitution by forcibly adding unnecessary things to it, especially by bringing laws that were aimed at suppressing Hindu society – if all this has to be changed, it is not possible with this (current) majority. Modi has said that this time, cross 400. Why cross 400?

We have a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, but we do not have a two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha. We have a small majority. We do not have enough majority in the state governments. However, the BJP dismissed it as Ananth Hegde’s personal statement.

Similarly, during the 2015 assembly elections, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had talked about reviewing reservation. He said that it should be investigated who should get the benefit of reservation and for how long. Lalu Prasad Yadav made this an issue and said that the RSS and BJP want to end reservation. However, later Mohan Bhagwat advocated reservation many times and said that the RSS has always been in favor of it. 

Historian Ramchandra Guha claims that the RSS mouthpiece Organiser wrote on 30 November 1949, ‘The worst thing about the new Constitution of India is that there is nothing Indian in it. There is no trace of ancient Indian laws/Smritis. Manu’s laws were written long ago. To this day, his laws mentioned in Manusmriti are praised all over the world. But for our constitutional experts, this has no meaning.’

In 2002, the then RSS chief KS Sudarshan had demanded the Vajpayee government to review the Constitution so that it could be implemented according to Indian values. He believed that we have already amended the Constitution a hundred times, so we should not be ashamed of changing it completely. There is nothing sacred in it. In fact, it is the root cause of most of the evils in the country.

Another statement by another top RSS leader Mohan Vaidya also needs attention. According to a report published in BBC, in 2017 he said, ‘Reservation is against the principle of equality. Give them opportunities, not reservation.’

Is there any contradiction in the statements of RSS on reservation?

In the year 2014, at the release of a book, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that reservation should be given as long as the society taking advantage of it keeps saying that it is necessary. The section of the society which has been oppressed for thousands of years will decide for how long it should get reservation. A section of the media has always been spreading the rumour that RSS is against reservation but it is not so. 

The question is whether Mohan Bhagwat’s statement is just a statement. Why are the RSS and BJP opposing caste census? Along with this, it is also a matter to think about how much reservation fits in the RSS’s concept of Hindu society.

How BJP rejected the claim of ending reservation

Home Minister Amit Shah said in a rally held in Korba, Chhattisgarh on May 2 that BJP will never end reservation nor will it ever let Congress do it. He said that on the repeated allegations of ending reservation, it is Congress’s trick to lie continuously. Along with this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took the charge and completely rejected the talk of taking back reservation.

How has reservation been arranged in the Constitution?

1-Reservation has been provided in the Constitution of India under Articles 15(4) and 16(4). It is also written that reservation should not exceed 50 percent under any circumstances. 

2-Using the powers given by both the articles of the Constitution, the Center and the Governments can reserve seats in government services for the candidates of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Article 15(3) of the Constitution gives the right to make provisions in favor of women.

3- In the year 1995, the 77th Constitutional Amendment was passed and a new section (4A) was inserted in Article 16, which empowers the government to provide reservation in promotions.

4. In the year 2001, through the 85th Amendment of the Constitution, clause (4A) of Article 16 was amended and provision for ‘resultant seniority’ for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates was made.

5- In the year 2000, the 81st constitutional amendment was made through which the state governments were given the right to transfer the remaining vacancies of the previous year reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to the next year. Due to which the rule of 50 percent reservation limit on the total vacancies of that year became void.

6. Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution provide for special representation for SC and ST communities through reservation of seats in the Parliament and State Legislatures.

7-Article 243D provides for reservation of seats for SCs and STs in every Panchayat and reservation of one-third of the total number of available seats for women.

8-Article 233T gives the right to reservation of seats for SCs and STs in every municipality.

9. Article 335 says that the claims of SC/ST members should be taken into consideration to maintain the efficiency of the administration.

Congress has announced constitutional amendment

Congress has promised in its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections that it will increase the reservation limit for Dalits, tribals and other backward classes to more than 50 percent and for this it is ready to amend the Constitution. At the same time, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a rally in Telangana that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to end reservation and wants to change the Constitution. Rahul said that the Prime Minister wants to snatch reservation from OBC, SC-ST. The Congress leader said that all the BJP leaders are constantly talking about changing the Constitution of the country by winning 400 seats. This danger has to be understood.

Constitutional amendment and reservation

1 – On 9 January 2019, the Parliament of India enacted the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019, which empowered the state to provide reservation in matters of higher education and public employment based only on economic criteria. The Act amended Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution by inserting sections 15(6) and 16(6). It received the President’s assent on 12 January 2019 and was published in the Gazette on the same day.

2. The amendment under Article 15(6) empowered the State to make special provisions for the advancement of any economically weaker section (EWS) of citizens, including reservation in educational institutions.

3. It says that such reservation can be given in any educational institution except minority educational institutions covered under Article 30(1), which includes both aided and unaided private institutions. 

4 – According to this, the upper limit of EWS reservation will be 10% which is different from the existing reservation limit.

5. Article 16(6) empowers the state to make reservations in appointments. Again, these provisions will be in addition to the existing reservations, capped at 10%.

Constitutional amendments were made 7 times during BJP’s tenure

1- 99th Amendment: As soon as Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over the chair, he made the 99th Constitutional Amendment. Under this, the National Judicial Commission was formed. Through this, the role of the government in the selection of judges would have become bigger. But the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court had rejected this amendment.

2- 100th Amendment: The 100th amendment was made in the Constitution for the land border treaty between India and Bangladesh. After the formation of this act, both the countries exchanged some parts of the land near the border with mutual consent. Along with this, Indian citizenship was also given to the people who came to India from Bangladesh.

3- 101st Amendment: 101st Amendment was made to implement GST. After this, all types of taxes were divided into several parts.

4 102nd Amendment: Under this, three new articles were added to the Constitution. The Backward Classes Commission was given constitutional status.

5- 103rd Amendment: Under this, reservation was given to economically backward poor in the general category.

6- 104th Amendment: By amending Article 334 of the Constitution, reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies was extended for 10 years.

7- 105th Amendment: After this amendment, the President can now issue the list of socially and educationally backward classes only for the Central Government.

What is the connection with the slogan of 400 Paar?

According to the investigation so far, the slogan of 400 Paar has no direct connection with the amendment of the Constitution or the abolition of reservation. In this sense, the statement of BJP MP Ananth Hegde is an election slogan, while the statement being made by the opposition is also just a means of election campaign. If a government wants to amend the Constitution and it has a majority in the Lok Sabha but not in the Rajya Sabha, then it can call a joint session of both the houses. In this situation, the path becomes easier for it.

Is it possible to change the basic structure of the Constitution?

This question has always been a matter of debate. So far, all governments have amended the Constitution according to their own wishes. When the right to amendment was being debated in the Constituent Assembly, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had said, ‘We want power to be solid and permanent but it is not eternal. If the Constitution is made rigid and unchanged, the development of the country will stop. If we do not change the Constitution with time, it will become rigid and will lose its significance and previous trust and anarchy and revolution against the government can arise in the country.’

The biggest and most controversial amendment in the constitution till date was the 42nd amendment which was made during Indira Gandhi’s tenure. At that time it seemed that the government could change everything through this. This amendment was called the mini constitution. Three new words socialist, secular and integrity were added to the preamble of the constitution. Along with this, a provision was also made that the decision of the Parliament cannot be challenged in the court. All these decisions were taken during the emergency. After this, the Janata Party government came and overturned many provisions through the 44th constitutional amendment. Along with this, the unlimited rights given to the MPs were also withdrawn. But nothing was done on the changes made in the preamble of the constitution.

The Supreme Court made a historic comment on the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution in the case of Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala on 24 April 1973. The 13-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ruled by a majority of 7-6 that Parliament cannot change the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution. The ‘basic structure’ has been recognized as a principle in the Indian Constitution since this decision.

What is the basic structure of the Constitution?

This means that the facts that bring forth the democratic ideals of the Indian Constitution cannot be removed even through amendments. These include things like supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law, independence of the judiciary, principle of separation of powers, federalism, secularism, sovereign, democratic republic, parliamentary system, free and fair elections, welfare state.