BJP stages protest against Rahul Gandhi's statement on reservation
Karnataka BJP on Saturday staged a protest against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's alleged remarks on reservation and called his Congress party "anti-Dalit and anti-reservation". The BJP's accusation came in reference to Gandhi recently telling the students at the Georgetown University in the US, that the Congress would think of scrapping reservations when "India is a fair place", which he said is not the case right now. Latching on to the Congress leader’s remark, the BJP held a protest near Freedom Park here.
BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, led the protest during which party leaders shouted slogans against Gandhi and Congress, holding banners and placards. They even tried to burn Gandhi's effigy, but were stopped by the police from doing so. Narayanaswamy said Gandhi's statement has proved that the Congress party is "anti-Dalit and anti-reservation". "Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of the country, had said that he was against reservation. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi (Nehru's daughter and grandson both former PMs) also continued the same. Now Rahul Gandhi has continued this legacy," Narayanaswamy was quoted as saying by BJP in a release.
Noting that after 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when Congress could not become official opposition, leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were made party leaders in Lok Sabha, he said, "now when Congress got the official opposition position role, Rahul Gandhi has taken the post (of leader of opposition)." The Congress leader called BJP is anti-Dalit, he pointed out further, and asked him to answer the question as to who is anti-Dalit. "We (BJP) are the ones who increased the reservation, not you.....you (Congress) are anti-Dalit and anti-reservation."