The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a fresh attack on the Congress on Tuesday, accusing its leaders, including India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, of opposing caste-based reservations. Speaking at a rally in Purbi Champaran Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar, Modi stated, “Had it not been for Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Nehru would have never agreed to quotas for SCs, STs, and OBCs. Nehru’s opposition to reservations was evident in letters he wrote to then-chief ministers.”
Modi further alleged that this opposition to reservations has been a consistent trait of the Congress under successive prime ministers, including Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. “SCs, STs, and OBCs have never received respect from the Congress,” the Prime Minister asserted.
Modi made these claims while criticizing the opposition for spreading “falsehoods” about the BJP’s stance on reservations. He argued that the BJP, if returned to power with a majority, would not scrap quotas by amending the Constitution. “The truth is that we have been protecting the rights of the deprived castes,” Modi said, listing his government’s measures to secure these rights. “It is only with the NDA led by BJP that the rights of SCs, STs, and OBCs are secure.”
Additionally, Modi accused the INDIA bloc of planning to extend reservation benefits “on the basis of religion.” He claimed that the opposition is focusing on this strategy because they have lost the support of SCs, STs, and OBCs and are now relying on a single vote bank. “They now care only for those engaging in vote jihad,” Modi alleged.