Congress 'Suppressed, Opposed' Mandal Commission Report: Shah After Party Promises Caste Census In MP

Union Home Minister Amit Shah's attack on the Congress comes at a time when the party has promised to carry out a caste census in Madhya Pradesh if it gets elected to power.

File Photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah

Source : PTI

Indore, Nov 11 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday questioned the Congress' commitment towards upliftment of the Other Backward Classes and said the party had opposed and suppressed the Mandal Commission report for several years.

Shah's attack on the Congress comes at a time when the party has promised to carry out a caste census in Madhya Pradesh if it gets elected to power.

The Congress, which claims a caste census will give the true number of OBCs, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes in order to given them more benefits, has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of opposing the exercise.

Addressing an election rally in Betma in Depalpur Assembly seat in Indore, Shah said, "What has the Congress done for OBCs? The Congress suppressed the Mandal Commission report for several years and opposed it." "The Narendra Modi government gave 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in educational institutions. More than 35 per cent ministers in the Modi government are OBCs. It was this government which gave constitutional recognition to the Backward Classes Commission," Shah asserted.

Modi himself comes from a poor family and the welfare of the downtrodden, including OBCs, Dalits and tribals, has been take care of by his government, Shah said.

The Modi government ensured Droupadi Murmu, who belongs to a poor tribal family of Odisha, became the country's President.

Attacking the Congress further, he said, "Lord Ram had been waiting for 550 years to see when his grand temple will be built at his birthplace. But the Congress was delaying, distracting and avoiding the construction of this temple for the last 70 years." The Congress used to sarcastically ask when the temple will be built, Shah said.

He said he wanted to tell the Congress that the idol consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya will take place at the hands of Prime Minister Modi on January 22.

Asking people to vote for his party, Shah said a BJP government in MP will provide 'darshan' of Ramlala (in Ayodhya) to people of the state on a rotational basis.

Dubbing the Congress a dynastic party, the Union Home Minister said Sonia Gandhi wants her son Rahul Gandhi to be the prime minister, while (MP Congress chief) Kamal Nath and (Rajya Sabha MP) Digvijaya Singh are trying to make their sons the chief minister of MP.

"Can those who are in politics for their sons and daughters do good for the OBCs, tribals and Dalits," Shah asked the crowd.

"In Madhya Pradesh (Congress), the orders of the Gandhi family are followed. Kamal Nath directs as per this order and if there is a mistake, then Digvijay Singh gets a slap for it," Shah claimed.

Assembly polls will be held in MP on November 17, while votes will be counted on December 3.

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)