Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye.
Credit: X/@keshavupadhye
Mumbai: Amid the raging reservation issue in Maharashtra, the BJP on Monday slammed the Congress for what it described as betraying the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
It is BJP that has freed the OBC community from the vicious cycle of Congress’s betrayal, the ruling party said.
Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, "Today, the Congress party, which is entirely tied to one leader, has its supreme head and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. His father, (former Prime Minister and later the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha) Rajiv Gandhi, exactly 35 years ago — on 6 September 1990 — strongly opposed the implementation of the Mandal Commission during his speech in the Lok Sabha. At that very time, Sharad Pawar, who changes his politics with every opportunity, was still in the Congress party."
“The first OBC reservation recommendation came from the Kaka Kalelkar Commission report in 1955, but the Congress, which was in power for decades, neither presented it nor implemented it. On the contrary, they suppressed it,” he added.
According to Upadhye, the Congress’s journey has always been a history of injustice towards the OBC community. “And now, the same Congress, which has such a history of wronging OBCs, is crying foul about injustice to them. (Congress Legislature Party leader) Vijay Wadettiwar, who is struggling to keep his position by showing loyalty at the feet of the Gandhi family, is shedding crocodile tears for OBC reservations,” Upadhye said in a statement.
He accused the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of trying hard to inflame the Maratha agitation and put the government in trouble, but under the leadership of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the state government successfully resolved the issue.
"Having failed in that attempt, the MVA group is now trying to instigate the OBCs,” he said.
“The Congress, which cheated the OBC community and used them only for votes, is now pretending to worry about them — that is exactly what crocodile tears mean. Both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi suppressed the Mandal Commission report. When the report was finally brought forward by Vishwanath Pratap Singh’s government (supported by the BJP), Congress directly opposed it. Later, it was the Modi government that gave constitutional status to the OBC Commission, and the BJP has consistently remained committed to OBC issues,” he said.
“It is the BJP that has freed the OBC community from the vicious cycle of Congress’s betrayal. This is the revenge that time itself has taken on Congress,” added Upadhye.