RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat pitched for a review of the reservation policy.
The Congress today launched an attack on the BJP and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh over RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's call for a review of the reservation policy.
In an interview to the Organiser, a magazine associated with the RSS,
Mr Bhagwat has said quota has been used for years as a political tool and suggested that a "non-political" committee be set up to examine who needs the benefit of reservation and for how long.
Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said it was an "anti-poor" mindset, "a divisive agenda to undermine the rights of the deprived and the underprivileged, particularly the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes".
The party, Mr Surjewala said, was of the opinion that affirmative action in favour of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs must continue, he added.
But his statement that the Congress was committed to reservation came as its senior leaders, Manish Tewari and Jitin Prasada, voiced their opposition to the caste-based quota system.
The Congress is contesting the Assembly elections in Bihar in alliance with Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United. The two parties -- whose growth had been fuelled by Mandal politics that supported a caste-based quota system -- have criticised Mr Bhagwat's remarks in a bid to rally the support of the backward castes.
The BJP has distanced itself from Mr Bhagwat's suggestion, saying it believes that reservation is "important for the social, education and economic development" of the SC, ST, OBC, Backwards and Extremely Backward classes.