'Nehru, Indira, Rajiv had opposed reservation': PM Modi's sharp dig at Congress

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took a dig at Congress and alleged that the "royal family" of the opposition party intends to eliminate the reservation for Dalits.

While addressing his first rally in Haryana ahead of the state assembly polls scheduled for October 5, the Prime Minister asserted that as long as he is in power, he will not allow even a fraction of the quota given by B R Ambedkar to be stolen or removed.

During his speech, PM Modi reminded the audience of certain incidents that occurred when the Congress was in power in Haryana and asked, "Who knows the anti-Dalit face of the Congress better than Haryana?"

He accused the Gandhi family of being the "biggest anti-Dalit, anti-OBC and anti-tribal" force in the country, claiming that they have now stated their intention to end the reservation for Dalits and the downtrodden if they come to power.

PM Modi alleged that the Gandhi family has always "hated" Ambedkar and strongly opposed reservation, insulting Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBC), and tribals.

The BJP has been attacking the Congress, claiming that Rahul Gandhi is against reservation for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes, and OBC, and his prejudice against the provision was revealed during his recent interaction with students at Georgetown University in the United States.

Rahul had told the students that the Congress would consider scrapping reservations when "India is a fair place," which he said is not the case currently.

PM Modi also also claimed that India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had opposed reservation and had written to state chief ministers about it.

"He had written to the chief ministers of the states in this regard. There is proof of this. Nehruji had said if people get jobs due to reservation, the quality of government service will drop. These were the words of Nehruji," he said.

He also alleged that Nehru's daughter, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, had stalled the OBC reservation, and that the Mandal Commission report was implemented during the V P Singh government, which was supported by the BJP.

The prime minister further claimed that as the opposition leader in Parliament, Rajiv Gandhi had opposed the reservation and had dubbed those who got reservation as "buddhu" in an interview, which Modi said was the biggest insult to the SC, ST, and OBC communities.

"Now, the royal family of the Congress is again insisting on doing away with reservation. But the Congress should listen to me carefully. As long as Modi is here, I will not allow a fraction of the reservation given by Baba Saheb Ambedkar to be looted or removed," he said.

The 90-member Haryana assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5, and the counting of votes will be taken up on October 8.

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