BJP to visit one lakh rural homes to hammer Modi’s pro-OBC decisions, Rahul’s anti-OBC remarks
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 28
The ruling BJP will visit one lakh village homes between April 6 and 14 with the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government’s “historic pro OBC decisions” and opposition Congress’ “anti OBC mindset.”
BJP OBC Morcha president K Laxman will lead the massive outreach under the BJP’s “Gaon Gaon chalo, Ghar ghar chalo” campaign which party chief JP Nadda will launch from Haryana’s Manesar on April 6, the BJP Foundation Day.
“We will reach around one crore people in villages to drive home the message of what PM Modi did for the OBCs in the past nine years and what the previous governments did before 2014. We will also expose Rahul Gandhi’s statement against the backward classes and how the Nehru-Gandhi family has made it a habit to oppose OBCs. We will demand Rahul Gandhi’s apology,” Laxman told The Tribune on Tuesday.
Even as the Congress steps up offensive against the government over Rahul’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha following his two year sentencing for the remarks, “How come all thieves have Modi surnames”, the BJP is confident of spinning the narrative into a larger offensive where they plan to portray the Congress as anti OBCs.
“Congress Party’s anti OBC mindset continues from the times of late Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru who did not implement the Kaka Saheb Kalelkar Commission Report. Later PM Indira Gandhi also did not implement it. Late PM Rajiv Gandhi opposed the implementation of the Mandal Commission report which was eventually rolled out under a non-Congress government. Most recently, the Congress opposed grant of constitutional status to the National OBC Commission. Now Rahul Gandhi has made casteist remarks against backward classes and refused to say sorry. This shows Congress Party’s sentiment towards OBCs,” Laxman said.
The BJP is eyeing the OBC block, which loosely makes up nearly 60 per cent of the national population spread across both general category people and designated backward classes.
“OBCs make up at least 27 pc of the people in every state. So it is a formidable force,” a BJP leader argued, saying “Congress with Rahul’s anti Modi remarks could have repeated the same mistake that late Rajiv Gandhi did by opposing the Mandal Commission which the BJP had supported.”
The implementation of the Mandal Commission led to emergence of a new political paradigm in India with regional parties like the SP, RJD and JDU gaining traction at the cost of Congress which lost Bihar and UP and could never return to power in these major Hindi heartland states while the BJP, a smaller player, gained gradually.
Conscious of potential gains of OBC consolidation in the run up to elections in Karnataka, Telangana, MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, Nadda will meet BJP’s OBC MPs on Wednesday to craft a poll strategy and finalise its nuances.
The village-level campaign which will conclude on Dr BR Ambedkar’s birth anniversary, April 14, will see BJP workers speak about a range of pro-OBC decisions taken under the Modi government—representation to 27 OBC ministers from across 24 states in the union council of ministers; constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes; clearing of backlog of unfilled OBC quota posts for professors and assistant professors; implementation of 27 per cent OBC quota (non-creamy layer) in Sainik Schools, among others.
WHAT LATE PM RAJIV GANDHI SAID IN PARLIAMENT ON SEPTEMBER 6, 1990 DURING THE DEBATE ON MANDAL COMMISSION REPORT
“You have taken the country to the edge of caste wars. We have problems if caste is defined to enshrine casteism in our country. We cannot stand by and watch this nation being divided for the political convenience of one individual (read the then PM VP Singh who pushed the report).
