Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | We will break 50 % cap on reservations: Rahul Gandhi

Mumbai: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday promised to remove the 50 per cent cap on reservations and conduct a caste census in the country.

“Caste census is the biggest issue before us and we will get it done; it is our central pillar,” Gandhi said at a press conference in Mumbai.

Gandhi described the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections as a battle of ideologies, and a fight between a few billionaires and the poor.

The Congress leader said that Rs 7 lakh crore projects including Foxconn and Airbus were shifted to Gujarat from Maharashtra. This led to youth in Maharashtra losing out on jobs, he added.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi government will protect the interests of the people of Maharashtra, he said.

The entire political machinery was twisted to help one person in Dharavi redevelopment scheme in Mumbai, Gandhi said.

Gandhi mocked the BJP’s 'ek hai toh safe hai' slogan, accusing the party of prioritising the interests of industrialist Gautam Adani over the people of Maharashtra.

Gandhi brought a safe to the press conference and pulled out a poster of Modi and Adani, and said, “They are safe till they are together.” The second poster he pulled out of the safe displayed a map of the Adani Group’s Dharavi redevelopment project. Gandhi said the safe symbolised the wealth of Mumbai, which he alleged was being targeted by Adani with the support of the BJP-led government.

The Dharavi redevelopment is unfair, and it is being done to benefit only one person. We are not convinced how tenders are being given. Only one person is given all the ports, airports and wealth of India," he said.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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