The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is training its guns at Congress not just over the grand old party’s suggestions on wealth redistribution and imposing inheritance tax, but also the simmering topic of reservation for Muslims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a rally in Gujarat on Wednesday said the Congress should put on record its stand on quotas for Muslims.
While the Congress and other opposition parties have accused the BJP of seeking a brute majority of over 400 lawmakers in Parliament to shore up numbers with an intent to change the Constitution and revisit caste-based reservations, the BJP has responded by bringing up reservation based on religion.
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The Prime Minister said the Congress party and its “prince”, referring to Rahul Gandhi, should give in writing that they will never offer reservations based on religion and should pledge not to tamper with the Constitution.
PM Modi also accused the opposition of spreading canards that the BJP wants to curtail the existing reservation for SC, ST and OBCs.
The Congress responded by referring to an article published in 1949 in the RSS-linked magazine, The Organiser, which said the Constitution had ignored legal texts such as the Manusmriti. Gandhi also urged all Congress candidates to carry a copy of the Constitution with them by filing nomination papers and during public meetings.
As far as the wealth redistribution matter is concerned, senior Congress leaders are now intensifying their outreach through social media to deny PM Modi’s claims that their manifesto talks about taking people’s money and jewellery. Congress is doubling down on the issue of wealth redistribution, an issue that is widely resonating on the ground.
Raebareli
All eyes are on the announcement of candidates for Raebareli. Both the Congress and the BJP are yet to name their contestants from the seat, which is considered a bastion of the Gandhi family.
Union home minister Amit Shah in an interview to a television channel said the BJP’s Raebareli unit has decided that it will announce the candidate only after the Congress does. He also said the party has three options and as soon as the Congress announces its candidate from Raebareli, the BJP will also declare.
The BJP has already named Smriti Irani as its candidate from Amethi, while the Congress is expected to announce it shortly. Taking a potshot at the delay in the announcement by the Congress, Shah said, “They are looking for the candidate who can lose elections…”
In 2019, Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi to win the Amethi seat.
