NEW DELHI: Union home minister and the BJP’s principal election strategist Amit Shah on Wednesday made a blistering attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his comment that the Congress will think of scrapping reservation when India is a fair place. Rahul, who is currently on a trip to the US, had made the remark on Tuesday while answering a question posed by students of the Georgetown University in Washington DC. “By speaking about abolishing reservations in the country, Rahul Gandhi has once again brought the Congress’s anti-reservation face to the forefront. The thoughts that were in his mind eventually found their way out as words,” Shah posted on X, adding that nobody will be able to scrap reservation as long as the BJP is around. Reservation is a touchy subject and several leaders have come under attack in the past for expressing their opinion on it. In 2015, weeks before the Bihar elections, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comment that the reservation policy could do with a ‘social review’ kicked up a huge controversy, forcing him to clarify that he did not mean to say practice should end. On Wednesday, BSP chief Mayawati and Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde also hit out at Gandhi for his remark. “Rahul Gandhi’s views reflect his petty mentality… It has been Congress’s habit to do politics in the name of religion and caste,” Shinde said.Mayawati said that when not in power, the Congress talks about SC, ST and OBC; but when in power, it works against their interests, adding, “People should be cautious of this conspiracy.”Shah also accused the Congress leader of making statements aimed at hurting the country’s image and meeting people who work against India’s interests.On Tuesday, Rahul had met some US lawmakers, including Ilhan Omar, a known India-critic who made a controversial trip to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in April 2022—an act India considers as a violation of its sovereignty.‘Not against reservation’Claiming that his statement was “misrepresented”, Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that he is not against reservation and will try to take it beyond the 50% cap.
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