'Making anti-national statements becoming habit': Shah attacks Rahul's reservation remark
What's the story
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on scrapping reservations during his three-day visit to the United States.
In a social media post, Shah accused Gandhi of aligning with "forces that conspire to divide the country" and making "anti-national statements."
He also claimed that Gandhi's comments revealed the Congress party's politics of causing divisions based on regionalism, religion, and linguistic differences.
Reservation debate
Shah responds to Gandhi's reservation remarks
"By speaking about abolishing reservations 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 reservations nor can anyone mess with the nation's security," Shah wrote.
While talking to students at Georgetown University, Gandhi said his party will think of scrapping reservations.
Economic disparity
Gandhi's remarks on economic disparity
"We will think of scrapping reservations when India is a fair place. And India is not a fair place," Gandhi said in response to a question on reservation and how long it would continue.
"When you look at the financial numbers, then tribals get 10 paise out of 100 rupees; Dalits get 5 rupees out of 100 rupees, and OBCs get a similar number. The fact of the matter is that they're not getting participation," Gandhi said.
Twitter Post
Read Shah's full response here
Standing with forces that conspire to divide the country and making anti-national statements have become a habit for Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party. Whether it is supporting the JKNC's anti-national and anti-reservation agenda in J&K or making anti-India statements on…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 11, 2024
Party stance
Gandhi's campaign to save the Constitution a 'charade': BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responded by alleging that Gandhi's campaign to save the Constitution was a "charade."
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi were also against caste-based reservation.
"I want to warn (people) that if the Congress tries to tamper with the provision of reservation in any way or scrap it, the BJP will vehemently oppose it," he said.