Congress will give OBC quota on religious group: PM Modi

NEW DELHI, LUCKNOW, BHOPAL: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday alleged that the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc was seeking votes for changing the Constitution to provide religion-based reservation. Upping his attack against the Congress in particular, Modi, at poll rallies in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, claimed that the Opposition grouping was sacrificing the OBC quota on the altar of minority appeasement.

He asserted, “Modi is standing as a wall between you and the Congress' plans to loot you.”

The sharp retort by the Prime Minister came amid the Opposition’s allegations that the NDA would change and subvert the Constitution to put in place a dictatorial regime.

Addressing an election rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Aonla, the Prime Minister said: “I am pledging support to the OBC community of Uttar Pradesh, encompassing Yadavs, Kurmis, Maurya-Kushwahas, Jat-Gujjars, Rajbhar-Teli-Pal communities. I am committed to preventing the SP and the Congress from depriving you of your reservation rights,” he said.

Earlier, at an election rally in Agra, the Prime Minister said, “While Modi focuses on uplifting the poor, the SP-Congress alliance is indulging in blatant appeasement. The Congress's manifesto for the 2024 elections bears the 100 per cent imprint of the Muslim League, solely dedicated to strengthening their votebank.”

“The Congress, whether in Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh, has persistently pushed for religion-based reservations in its manifesto. Despite constitutional and judicial constraints, the Congress is determined to pursue this agenda. Their strategy involves reallocating the OBC quota to provide religion-based reservation, as seen in Karnataka where all Muslim castes were included in the OBC category by the Congress government,” he said.

Modi mentioned that in 2012, just before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Congress government attempted to allocate a portion of the OBC reservation to minorities based on religion but failed.

“Now, the people of Uttar Pradesh, especially the OBC community, must recognise the Congress and the SP's dangerous game. They aim to take away the rights of the OBC castes and give them to their preferred votebank. The SP, for its own gains, is betraying the Yadavs and backward classes. This appeasement-driven mindset defines both the SP and the Congress, who aim to surreptitiously redistribute the OBC rights to their vote banks,” Modi said, pointing out that before the arrival of UP CM Yogi Adityanath, the slogan of the INDIA bloc in the state was -- the land that belongs to the government's, that land is ours.

Raking up the inheritance tax issue, Modi said, “A new scheme by the Congress-I.N.D.I.A. bloc has emerged and that is ‘Congress ki loot jindagi ke sath bhi, jindagi ke baad bhi’. They claim they will investigate your belongings using the Congress prince's (apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi) X-ray machine, seizing everything, including sisters' and daughters' jewellery and distributing it among their votebanks. Not even the sisters' mangalsutras will be spared.”

On the inheritance tax, Modi said, "The Congress-SP and INDI alliance plan to impose a 55 per cent tax on your inheritance. This means they'll seize a significant portion of what you leave for your children. If you build a four-room house, only two rooms will go to your children. The remaining portion will be seized by the Congress and the SP. Similarly, if you own 10 bighas of land, only five bighas will be inherited by your children, the rest will be confiscated by the Opposition bloc. Are you ready to surrender your property to them?"

Reiterating that tough action against corruption under the BJP's third term, he said, “Our commitment is clear -- corrupt individuals will be investigated. The money they've stolen from the poor will be returned to the poor. Modi is seeking legal advice on how to recover the looted money, including bungalows and vehicles, from these corrupt individuals.”

At a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur, Modi alleged that "do shehzade" (two princes, referring to Gandhi and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav) have come together for the politics of appeasement.

Modi said, "Can you expect development from the flop pair of 'do ladkon ki jodi' (a pair of boys)? Appeasement politics is the biggest reason that the "do shehzade" have come together," he said.

Addressing a public rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena, Modi said, “As you all know, at the time of Independence, the Congress accepted the division of the country in the name of religion to gain power. Today, once again, the Congress is scrambling for power. These people are once again using religious appeasement as a political tool. But Modi is standing as a wall between you and the Congress' plans to loot you.”

Alleging that the Congress has been conspiring to deprive the dalits, backward classes and tribals of their rights for a long time, he said, “In Karnataka, the Congress government has essentially declared the entire Muslim community OBCs. This means that the Congress has begun to give reservations to the Muslim community in education and government jobs by taking them away from the OBCs,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister stated that the Constitution of the country does not allow reservations based on religion, so the Congress has resorted to this deceit.

“Even B.R. Ambedkar himself was strongly against reservations based on religion. However, drowning in votebank and appeasement politics, the Congress wants to implement this model of Karnataka across the entire country,” he remarked.