Amid battle for SC votes in Haryana, BJP accuses Congress of ‘anti-reservation’ and ‘feudal’ mindset

Haryana BJP leader accuses Congress of anti-Constitution, anti-reservation mindset, highlighting issues related to Scheduled Castes in upcoming elections.

Haryana senior BJP leader Ashok Tanwar on Sunday (September 15, 2024) accused the Congress of having an “anti-Constitution” and “anti-reservation” mindset. A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the Congress “the most dishonest party”, Mr. Tanwar stepped up attack on the party raking up various issues pertaining to the Scheduled Castes (SC) such as reservation and backlog of jobs.

Referring to Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s recent comments on reservation during his US visit, Mr. Tanwar, at a press conference in Rohtak, said that Mr. Gandhi’s remarks that “we will think of scrapping reservation when India is a fair place” not just spoiled the country image by implying that we were not a fair country, but also betrayed his party’s “anti-Constitution” and “anti-reservation” mindset.

He alleged that the Congress, which had been in power for over six decades, was responsible for the backlog in filling jobs reserved for the Scheduled Castes.

Mr. Tanwar said that any discussion in the BJP about reservation, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, could be only about the ways for its better implementation.

Referring to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) figures during the Congress government in Haryana from 2004-14, Mr. Tanwar said an atrocity was committed on the Scheduled Castes every 18th hour in those days and recalled the incidents of attack on SCs in Gohana, Mirchpur and Kurukshetra.

Recalling the viral video in which an elderly man talking about ticket distribution in the Congress made casteist slurs against Congress’ Sirsa MP Kumari Selja, Mr. Tanwar said that none of the Congress leaders condemned the language used against her and no action was initiated. He said that one family in Haryana had completely taken over the Congress and it was difficult for any self-respecting worker and leader to be in the party any more.

As the Congress and the BJP, the two major political forces in the State, get battle-ready banking largely on the Jat and Other Backward Classes (OBC) vote respectively, the SCs, who comprise around 20% of the State’s population as per the 2011 Census, could be the deciding factor in the Assembly poll. The battle for the SC votes in Haryana has intensified further with Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) forging an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).