Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday announced that no one has the power to end reservation — his statement coming days after Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan wondered aloud if reservations can bring welfare to the country.

“I want to say it very clearly that Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar drafted the Indian Constitution and implemented it across the country. You people understand it very clearly that there are people who say a lot of things about reservation, do not think about it. No one in the world has the guts to end reservation to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe in our country,” Nitish said loudly at a Dalit and Mahadalit conference organised by the JDU in Patna’s SK Memorial Hall on Wednesday, without taking Speaker Mahajan’s name.

Mahajan was speaking at a programme in Ranchi on September 30 when she said “Ambedkar believed reservations were needed for only 10 years but that did not happen and we extend reservation every 10 years”. At one point, she also said reservation was extended for 20 years but had it brought welfare to the country.

Nitish, who is also the JDU president, was accompanied at the programme by MLA Shyam Rajak and other party leaders. He spoke for 30 minutes.

Reservation is a contentious issue right now, especially with the debate on giving reservation to poor people belonging to upper castes going on.

Recently, the Supreme Court suggested that the creamy layer criteria could be applied to reservations meant for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The creamy layer principle, under which the “advanced” among the socially disadvantaged sections are excluded from quota for jobs and admissions, now applies only to other backward classes.

Nitish stressed that people are free to speak their mind, indirectly targeting RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav who keeps tweeting that “Nitish is in the lap of the BJP and RSS who want to end reservation”.

“There are people who say anything. Now they have become experts in plotting differences among people. There is social media today and people from different castes post something and manipulate things to create tension and differences. This is their habit. I am again saying no one can take your rights and we are looking into the matter strongly,” Nitish said.

He said the country cannot develop by bringing development to the life of few and reiterated that development should reach each and every household.