In 2009, the Ranganath Misra commission had recommended 10 percent reservation for Muslims and five percent for other minorities in government jobs and favoured Scheduled Caste status for Dalits in all religions.

The now declared Bharatiya Janata Party's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind, Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi in 2010, who hails from the Dalit community, said, "No, that is not possible," and called for scrapping the Ranganath Misra commission report.

The 2 term BJP Rajya Sabha MP Kovind's remarks which he made in his capacity as the national spokesperson for the BJP "Including Muslims and Christians in the Scheduled Castes category will be unconstitutional," he said.

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