BJP Slams Congress For 'Junking' Karnataka Caste Survey, Alleges Betrayal Of OBCs
The BJP on Monday accused the Congress of always deceiving and betraying the Other Backward Classes as it hit out at the party following the Karnataka government's decision to junk an earlier caste count and go for a fresh enumeration.
Union minister and BJP leader Bhupender Yadav asked for fixing accountability, noting that over Rs 165 crore of public money was spent in carrying out the earlier survey and claimed that the plank of social justice is merely a show for the Congress to engage in social division for electoral purposes.
With the Congress asking the Centre to adopt the "Telangana model" for not just caste enumeration but also in bringing out detailed data on socio-economic parameters during the nationwide census, the key OBC face of the BJP questioned why the opposition party did not follow the same practice in Karnataka.
Congress' inner contradictions have been exposed as the party has no real commitment to social justice and resorts to such political gimmicks for electoral purposes, he said.
At a press conference, Yadav also demanded an apology from RJD supremo and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav after a political row erupted over the placement of a picture of Dalit icon Bhim Rao Ambedkar near his feet on his birthday.
"It shows his (Lalu's) arrogance. Most backward classes and Dalits faced most injustice during his government," he alleged.
Speaking to reporters, Yadav claimed that the Congress has a history of betraying the OBC interests as he recalled that its governments at the Centre had ignored the Kaka Kalelkar Commission report on empowering the backward classes. The party also opposed the Mandal Commission recommendations, he said.
He cited Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's statement that the decision for a fresh caste enumeration was not his government’s but the Congress leadership's, questioning the party's interference in the state government's decision-making.
Yadav compared it with the alleged interference from Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council during the UPA government.
The Congress has said that the fresh exercise has been announced to address the concerns of certain communities. Also, the earlier caste survey data was 10 years old and needed to be updated, it said.
It is the Modi government, Yadav said, which has worked for the socio-economic empowerment of the backward classes with its numerous schemes. It also accorded constitutional status on the National Commission for Backward Classes, he added.
He said the Karnataka government's decision not only highlights the internal contradictions of the Congress but also stressed that social justice is mere optics for the party which has "no commitment" to the idea.
The Congress, he alleged, resorts to electoral engineering, data manipulation and vote bank appeasement in the name of social justice, and invariably deceives the backward classes.
He noted that the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission recommended an eight per cent quota under the 2B category meant for Muslims, claiming it exposed the Congress' preference to vote bank appeasement over social justice.
Asked about the Congress crediting its leader Rahul Gandhi for the Modi government's decision for caste enumeration, Yadav mocked the main opposition party. It cannot step out of its wont to give credit to the Nehru-Gandhi family for 100 years, he said. "It is their slavery," he added.
The government took a decision after considering every aspect and making full preparation, he said on the day the Centre issued a notification for conducting India's 16th Census with caste enumeration in 2027.
Replying to a question over the BJP slamming the fresh list of OBC communities notified by the West Bengal government for including a large number of Muslim castes, Yadav said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is fully steeped into appeasement politics while denying the most deprived sections of the benefits of the central government's schemes.
To a question about the opposition demand of raising the 50 per cent cap on reservation for OBCs, SCs and STs, Yadav said the BJP believes in 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' and will implement on ground the quota benefits allowed by the Constitution. All sections of society will be empowered, and the BJP works for each of them, he said.
(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.)
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