Nadda has ‘cordial discussions’ with one faction of anti-quota protesters

Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on Thursday (August 27, 2026) met with a delegation who were part of the Reservation Hatao Andolan demonstration on August 21. The RHA is against caste-based reservation and wants all quotas to be income-based instead.

Also read | ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’ solidifies into quota reforms/general category interest platform

In a twist, however, the delegation was headed by NEET aspirant Harsh Dubey, who has been distanced by other RHA leaders as a “plant” of the government, ever since he shared a platform with Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on August 22, claiming an assurance of attention from the Union government.

Mr. Nadda said that “cordial discussions were held” as per a “pre-determined schedule”, adding that he would meet with the anti-reservation activists again soon. Mr. Dubey called the meeting a “positive initiative for the welfare of all society”. Other popular RHA leaders, including Ajeet Bharti, Anuradha Tiwari and Neha Das, called Mr. Dubey a “plant” of the government to “divert from the real demands”, and asked Mr. Nadda to “stop playing these games”.

Mr. Nadda’s post on the talks did not mention the name of the movement or its goals, leading to a taunt from Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke. “What does the Prime Minister have to say about the movement of 21 August, whose name Mr. Nadda is not taking? The country wants to know,” he said.

Mr. Dubey told The Hindu that Mr. Nadda met him and his associates on Wednesday as well to discuss their demands. “The Union Minister gave us time at his residence on both days, and we raised all demands related to taking reservations towards a purely income-based criteria,” Mr. Dubey said.

Like the CJP, the RHA also began with social media mobilisation, harnessing the anger of general category students against reservations. Mr. Dipke seemed to be alluding to the fact that BJP leaders themselves have employed similar anti-reservation rhetoric, notably on the campaign trail ahead of the 2024 general election. The Opposition had jumped on these remarks and claimed that the BJP’s call to cross 400 seats in Parliament was aimed at changing the Constitution to remove reservations. Despite denials by top BJP leaders, this narrative was seen as part of reason for the BJP’s failure to secure a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha.

With Uttar Pradesh scheduled to elect a new Assembly next year, reservations are an electorally sensitive topic. Aam Aadmi Party Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj too asked Mr. Nadda to “shed light” on the main demand of the protesters, noting, “The main demand of the BJP Savarna Morcha movement was a reconsideration of reservations.”

Mr. Dubey had played a key role in gaining police permission for the RHA protest on August 21, but the Delhi police successfully cleared the protesters from Jantar Mantar by the end of the day. The next day, Mr. Dubey was seen in a press conference in Lucknow with the U.P. Deputy CM, who assured the movement that the Centre would engage with them soon. Mr. Dubey also appears to have signed a letter after meeting Mr. Pathak, in which the word “reservations” was not even mentioned, sparking accusations of a dilution of RHA demands. His unilateral hob-nobbing with BJP leaders has earned him the ire of other RHA leaders, who mocked his meeting with Mr. Nadda.

“If you think that by catching a child and forcing them to say your words, you can stop this movement, that is not going to happen,” said Ms. Tiwari, adding that the RHA movement was not represented by a single face, and would continue until its demands are met. Mr. Bharti, who was recently booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for abusing Dalit MP Chandrashekhar Azad’s family members, also alluded to Mr. Dubey being a “plant” of the government meant to “avoid the real demands”.

The RHA’s expanded charter of demands now includes a review of the SC/ST Act (particularly the amendments passed in 2018), phasing out of caste-based reservations, a National Commission for the General Category, and a complete rollback of the University Grants Commission’s 2026 caste-equity rules for campuses. This last issue had sparked campus protests in January, and was seen as a partial cause of the BJP’s loss in the Bankipur Assembly constituency earlier this year. The Centre recently said it is reconsidering the 2026 rules. The RHA is yet to communicate its demands in a letter to the government, but vowed to do so soon.

Mr. Dubey’s initial statement on his meeting with Mr. Nadda did not mention any such specific demands, simply saying the discussion was about the August 21 movement. The protesters’ intent was to “move forward with a positive and just decision in the interest of all society”, he said, adding that they are “not against any section” of society.

However, in a memorandum submitted to Mr. Nadda during the meeting on Thursday (August 26, 2026), Mr. Dubey said that all demands for reservation reforms have been raised, which include several of the demands put out by the RHA movement in its charter on Tuesday (August 25, 2025). Mr. Dubey said that while there was a need to ensure equitable policies for certain sections of society that have been left out, his list of demands does not include the setting up of a National Commission for the General Category and has also dropped the demand for reviewing the Prevention of Atrocities Act.

On the split in the movement after his decision to meet Mr. Pathak, Mr. Dubey said, “There is no point in weakening the movement and we should take what the government is willing to initiate discussions on.”