Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an exclusive interview with Network18, attacked the Congress for “trying to loot” the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in the country as he pointed out several instances when the Grand Old Party pushes for quota on the basis of religion.
Responding to a question by Network18’s Group Editor Rahul Joshi on former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s 2006 video about poor Muslims having the first right on the country’s resources, PM Modi pointed to the Congress manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and said it had the “stamp of the Muslim League”.
The prime minister further gave instances to prove that Singh had always wanted to take a part of the OBC reservation and give it to Muslims several times during his tenure.
“You see the history of Congress. This demand (for reservation) has been raised since the 1990s. There is a huge section of society in the country which felt that something should be done for them, there were protests for it. Before 1990, Congress completely opposed it and suppressed it. Then whatever commissions they formed, whatever committees they formed, their reports also started coming in favour of OBCs. They kept denying, rejecting, and suppressing these views. But after the 90s, due to vote-bank politics, they felt something must be done,” he said.
PM Modi added: “So, what was the first sin they committed? In the 90s, they decided to classify Muslims as OBCs in Karnataka. So, they were rejecting and suppressing OBCs earlier, but for political gains, they labelled Muslims as OBCs. Congress was ousted from the Centre. This plan remained stalled till 2004. When Congress came back in 2004, it immediately decided to give OBC quota to Muslims in Andhra Pradesh. The matter got complicated in court. The Indian Parliament had decided to give 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in line with the basic spirit of the Constitution. Now, they tried to loot this 27 per cent quota.”
The prime minister said the Grand Old Party, in its manifesto for the 2009 polls, mentioned the demand again. “In 2011, there is a Cabinet Note on this where they decided to give a share from the OBC quota to Muslims. They tried this in the UP elections too but to no avail. In 2012, the Andhra High Court cancelled it. They went to Supreme Court, even there they did not get any relief. The 2014 Manifesto also talked about reservation on the basis of religion.”
“When the Constitution of India was made, no RSS or BJP people were present. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and several great men of our country were present, and after long contemplation, they decided that reservation cannot be given on the basis of religion in a country like India. But see their manifesto for the 2024 elections. It has the imprint of the Muslim League. The way they are flouting the Constitution, the way they are insulting Ambedkar… There is a sword of danger hanging over reservation for SCs and STs. They will make life difficult for OBCs. Should I not inform the people of the country about this?”
Slamming the Congress argument about lack of OBC judges as well as no representation from the community in the media, PM Modi asked if it was his government that formed any policy since 2014 to hamper the growth of OBCs.
“These are their sins. It is their (Congress’s) sins that the country is paying for. If they had followed secularism in the true sense, had done social justice in the true sense, not done vote bank politics, then they would not have had to roam around with fake papers today. I believe that whatever I have been doing for the past 10 years, the results will be such that whatever questions are asked, we will be able to answer them, based on our actions. We will give justice to everybody.”
He added: “How did our country get the first Adivasi President? Through our thought process. We got three chances to make the President of India. Once during Atal-ji’s time, twice during my tenure. Who did we elect the first time? First, we made a member of the minority community, Abdul Kalam. Then I made a Dalit (Ramnath Kovind), then an Adivasi woman (Droupadi Murmu). Our actions show our thought process.”
The prime minister, in the exclusive conversation, also shared his views about the BJP’s development agenda, the 2024 Lok Sabha battle and opposition’s barbs against him. The full interview will go live on News18 channels and digital platforms at 9pm on Monday, April 29.
Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
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