As leaders of the BJP slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks in the US on the issue of reservation in India and his meeting with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Wednesday that Gandhi has “once again brought the Congress’s anti-reservation face to the forefront” and is “standing with forces that conspire to divide the country” while “making anti-national statements”.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attacked Gandhi for suggesting that Sikhs as a community felt insecure in India, and that China was occupying Indian territory. “The kind of claims he has made on the soil of America regarding the India-China border dispute are misleading and beyond facts,” Singh said.
In a post on X, Shah said, “By speaking about abolishing reservation in the country, Rahul Gandhi has once again brought the Congress’s anti-reservation face to the forefront. The thoughts that were in his mind eventually found their way out as words. I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that as long as the BJP is there, neither can anyone abolish reservation nor can anyone mess with the nation’s security.”
Referring to Gandhi’s meeting with Ilhan Omar – India had protested her visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in April 2022 and said her “narrow-minded politics” violated India’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty” — Shah said, “Standing with forces that conspire to divide the country and making anti-national statements have become a habit for Rahul Gandhi and the Congress.” “Whether it is supporting the JKNC’s anti-national and anti-reservation agenda in J&K or making anti-India statements on foreign platforms, Rahul Gandhi has always threatened the nation’s security and hurt sentiments,” he said, adding, “Rahul Gandhi’s statement lays bare the Congress’s politics of causing rifts on the lines of regionalism, religion, and linguistic differences.”
Gandhi addressed two events in the US Monday, including an interaction with students of Georgetown University where, while responding to a question on caste-based reservation, he said, “If you look at the Indian government, there are 70 bureaucrats who run the government… Of the 70 people, there is no tribal, three Dalits and three OBCs, a minority… the fact is they aren’t getting participation. We will think of ending reservation when India is a fair place. And India is not a fair place.”
He also spoke about the absence of a level-playing field in the recent Lok Sabha elections – alleging that Opposition leaders and parties were harassed — but added that Indian democracy was fighting back and the election results did offer some hope, although it was not good enough yet.
Accusing Gandhi of making statements on foreign soil that hurt Indians and also meeting “anti-India” persons, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said, “Mr Rahul Gandhi should apologise not only to Bharat, but he should apologise to every single citizen of India who has felt hurt.”
Union Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters, “It is for everyone to see who are the political leaders in our country who are often seen to be moving around with known anti-India elements across the globe, spew venom and speak against India.”
Hitting back at the BJP, the Congress said the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha has only talked about upholding the Constitution and asked why the ruling party has a “problem” whenever there is such talk. (IE)
