Congress ‘opposed Mandal Commission report’, says Amit Shah
The Hindu
Amit Shah accuses Cong of insulting OBCs & suppressing Mandal report. Rahul Gandhi pushes caste-based survey & BJP & Cong try to woo OBCs. Rahul visits Kedarnath, Kamal Nath portrays himself as "proud Hindu". Rahul attacks BJP on corruption & inaction of Central agencies.
Even as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi continues to push his party’s plank with the promise of a caste-based population survey in Madhya Pradesh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday accused the grand old party of “insulting” the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and “opposing and suppressing” the Mandal Commission report.
“The Congress party always insulted the backward class. The Congress suppressed the Mandal Commission report for several years. [Former Prime Minister] Rajiv Gandhi opposed implementing it,” Mr. Shah said, addressing a rally in Chanderi in Ashok Nagar district in the poll-bound State.
“They never gave the Backward Class Commission constitutional recognition for 70 years. But [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi-ji gave it constitutional recognition and gave respect to crores of people from the backward class,” he added.
Both the BJP and the Congress have been trying to woo the OBCs in Madhya Pradesh as they make up nearly 50% of the State’s population.
Meanwhile, on a day when senior BJP leaders, includng Mr. Shah and Mr. Modi, made strident Hindutva-based appeals, the Congress released a video of Mr. Gandhi’s pilgrimage to Kedarnath.
In the video, the Congress leader is seen interacting with a mauni baba (silent saint) through gestures and written words. The move can be seen as one of the Congress’s many subtle attempts to play the Hindu card in the run-up to the Assembly polls in the State.
The Congress’ State unit chief and chief ministerial candidate Kamal Nath has portrayed himself as a “proud Hindu” on several occasions. He has also tried to counter the BJP’s Ayodhya Ram Mandir plank by saying that the temple belonged to every citizen of the country and the ruling party did not own it.
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