“BJP-RSS's Assault Constitution, Ambedkar's Ideology”: NSUI President Varun Choudhary
Nagpur, Maharashtra: In a press conference held today in Nagpur, National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) President Varun Choudhary launched a scathing attack on the BJP-RSS for what he called a systematic assault on the Indian Constitution and the ideology of Dr BR Ambedkar. Choudhary accused the BJP of undermining the foundational principles of equality and reservation, which Dr Ambedkar had enshrined in the Constitution to safeguard the rights of marginalized communities.
Choudhary condemned the government’s privatisation policies, highlighting that the reduction of public sector jobs from 14 lakh in 2013 to just 8.4 lakh in 2023 had a detrimental impact on SC, ST, and OBC communities who rely on reservation norms for employment opportunities. He also pointed to the non-implementation of social justice principles in education, with central universities showing a stark underrepresentation of SC, ST, and OBC faculty. Reserved seats are increasingly marked as “Not Found Suitable” (NFS) and converted into unreserved categories, undermining the 50% reservation mandate.
The NSUI President also criticised cuts to scholarship schemes, noting the significant reduction in funding for pre-matric and post-matric scholarships for OBC and EBC students in the 2024-25 budget. He pointed out that the Post-Matric Scholarship for 60 lakh SC students had been stopped under the BJP’s policy in 2017, severely affecting educational opportunities for these communities.
Choudhary highlighted alarming dropout rates among SC, ST, and OBC students in prestigious institutions like IITs and IIMs, where over 13,000 students left between 2018 and 2023 due to caste-based discrimination. He also referenced 33 suicides reported in IITs and IIMs from 2014 to 2021, exposing the extent of systemic casteism in higher education.
Another major concern raised by Choudhary was the large number of vacant reserved posts within central ministries and universities, with over 42,000 positions for SC, ST, and OBC candidates remaining unfilled. He blamed the government’s privatisation policies for introducing a culture of contractual jobs that bypass reservation norms, further depriving marginalised communities of opportunities.
Choudhary also accused BJP and RSS leaders of directly attacking Dr Ambedkar’s legacy through derogatory remarks and their ongoing opposition to the reservation system. He concluded by stating that the BJP-RSS’s actions were an attack on the very foundations of social justice in India, and that the NSUI would continue to fight for the rights of marginalised communities.
