JP Nadda meets quota-reform activists; plot against General class, says Ajeet Bharti

Days after protesters seeking reform in the reservation system rocked New Delhi's Jantar Mantar, Union Minister JP Nadda on Thursday met a delegation of quota-reform activists. The delegation included activists, including NEET aspirant Harsh Dubey, Ran Bahadur Singh Chauhan and Mrityunjay Pathak, who are demanding changes to India's caste-based reservation framework and what they describe as equal opportunities for all communities.

Reacting to the development, reservation reform activist and influencer Ajeet Bharti accused the BJP of treating Harsh Dubey as its "planted" leader and staging a "pretence of negotiation" to sidestep the movement's actual demands. He alleged that Dubey was made to submit a letter of "worthless demands" that did not even contain the word "reservation".

Warning Nadda to "stop playing games", Bharti claimed protesters had already rejected Dubey after he met Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, a day after the August 21 protests.

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Reacting to the meeting, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder and convenor Abhijeet Dipke asked why Nadda didn't mention what the protest on August 21 at Jantar Mantar was for. "The country wants to know what Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks of it," Dipke said on X.

Taking to X, Nadda said the cordial interaction was held according to a previously fixed schedule and that another meeting with the quota-reform activists would take place soon. However, he neither named the agitation nor disclosed the demands discussed or any assurance given to the delegation.

The meeting comes days after Harsh Dubey and other reservation-reform representatives met Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak in Lucknow. Pathak had promised to place their demands before the BJP's central leadership and arrange a meeting with a Union minister within 48 hours.

The meeting follows thousands of people from the unreserved category gathered at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar on August 21 following weeks of online mobilisation led by Dubey, and quota-reform activists like Anuradha Tiwari and Ajeet Bharti.

Protesters opposed caste-based reservation and the now-stayed UGC equity regulations, with several demanding that affirmative-action benefits be linked to economic circumstances. The demonstration also drew groups such as the General Sena, Chanakya Sena and Shri Rajput Karni Sena, which has held protests in Rajasthan's Jaipur.

The mobilisation had gathered momentum after the CJP-led agitation over examination irregularities and education reforms brought thousands of young people to Jantar Mantar. The quota-reform voices emerged from the time of the CJP agitation, with people alleging that NEET aspirants from the general category were the ones who killed themselves because of the additional pressure on them.

BHARTI CALLS NADDA MEETING A 'NEGOTIATION DRAMA', SAYS QUOTA-REFORM DEMANDS SIDELINED

Influencer Ajeet Bharti launched a sharp attack on JP Nadda over his meeting with Harsh Dubey and other reservation-reform activists, alleging that the BJP was staging a "pretence of negotiation" with a leader it had itself "planted". In a sarcastic post addressing the Union minister as "Shri Negotiation Pratap", Bharti said the letter submitted by Dubey did not even contain the word "reservation" and carried "two-penny demands" that failed to represent the movement's principal concerns.

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Bharti also questioned why Kali Sena leader Swami Anand Swaroop, whom he called "the biggest face of the movement", was not included in the talks. Referring to Dubey's earlier meeting with Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, he alleged that people had already rejected Dubey after the "Brajesh Pathak stunt".

"This is an old and well-known tactic: recognise a person planted by you as the movement's leader, stage the pretence of negotiating with him, and then swallow the actual demands," Bharti wrote on X. Warning Nadda to "stop playing games", he added, "I promise you that I will not have to sit with you, and you will still accept our demands."

Bharti has been among the prominent voices amplifying the reservation-reform campaign and operates the Reservation Hatao Andolan handle on X. The RHA account has demanded a review of caste-based quotas, the application of economic criteria and the permanent withdrawal of the UGC's now-stayed equity regulations. Bharti also attended and addressed the August 21 Jantar Mantar demonstration.

Earlier this week, Delhi Police booked Bharti under the SC/ST Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act over alleged casteist and abusive remarks against Azad Samaj Party chief and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad during an August 22 YouTube broadcast. Bharti denied using any casteist expressions, called the FIR "pressure-driven" and claimed that it "won’t survive two minutes in court".

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NADDA MEETS HARSH DUBEY AND OTHERS; CJP'S DIPKE ASKS WHAT PM MODI THINKS

Nadda announced the meeting in a post on X, where he said he had a cordial meeting with Dubey, Chauhan, Pathak and other members of their team.

"Following the agitation held at Jantar Mantar on August 21, a cordial discussion was held with Shri Harsh Dubey, Shri Ran Bahadur Singh Chauhan, Shri Mrityunjay Pathak and members of the team, as per the pre-scheduled time," Nadda wrote in Hindi.

"In this sequence, we will meet again soon," the minister added.

Harsh Dubey described the interaction as a "positive initiative in the interest of all sections of society". He said the delegation held a brief discussion with Nadda concerning the August 21 protest and called the meeting an important step towards dialogue.

"We will meet the honourable JP Nadda ji again very soon and try to move forward with a positive and just decision in the interest of all sections of society," Dubey wrote.

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He insisted that the movement was not directed against any particular community. Its objective, he said, was to democratically and peacefully seek "equal opportunity, a just system and necessary reforms in the national interest."

Dubey added in his post on X that the team would officially announce further information and decisions later.

Abhijeet Dipke, the convenor of the youth-driven Cockroach Janta Party, reacted to Nadda's formulation and asked why the Union minister had not named the protest.

"What does the Prime Minister have to say about the August 21 agitation that Nadda ji is not naming? The country wants to know," Dipke wrote on X.

HOW THE AUGUST 21 QUOTA REFORM PROTEST TOOK SHAPE

The August 21 protest followed weeks of mobilisation against the now-stayed UGC's 2026 equity regulations and the caste-based reservation system. The Supreme Court had stayed the regulations in January after describing provisions as vague and potentially open to misuse. Protesters at Jantar Mantar claimed thousands had turned up for the demonstration, although there was no official estimate of the crowd. (Images: India Today Group)

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The protest at Jantar Mantar, which came after the CJP protests culminated in the resignation of Education Minister Dhamendra Pradhan and weeks of online mobilisation, widened the issue beyond the UGC rules. Several demanded economic criteria in reservation, limits on benefits being repeatedly claimed across generations, and a review of perceived disparities between the OBC creamy-layer threshold and EWS eligibility.

The August 21 protest saw barricades breached amid a heavy police deployment that included the Delhi Police, RAF and ITBP personnel. Despite the scale of the protest and the political debate it triggered, the Centre has not announced any review of the constitutional reservation framework.

Nadda's meeting has now opened a formal channel of communication, but its outcome remains unclear. The promised second round will show whether the engagement moves towards concrete proposals or remains a political outreach exercise.

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