During a Lok Sabha election rally in Nandurbar, Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress party of attempting to diminish Hindu faith and spreading misinformation about job reservations and the Constitution.
Modi criticized the Congress for supporting religion-based quotas, asserting that such policies contradict the intentions of the Constitution’s architect, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. He emphasized that providing quota benefits based on religion goes against the values enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
“The hidden agenda of the Congress is to take away your quotas and give them to Muslims,” Modi told the audience.
Modi also highlighted that the Congress government in Karnataka had reclassified all Muslims as part of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and granted them reservations. He accused the Congress of neglecting the welfare of Adivasis.
The Prime Minister’s party, the BJP, has often accused the Congress of being “anti-Hindu” and showing preference towards Muslims.
The debate arises after a study by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) indicated an almost 8% decline in the share of Hindus in the overall population from 1950 to 2015 and a 43% increase in the proportion of Muslims during the same period.
In a past interview with Times Now, the Prime Minister stressed that reservations should not be based on religion and that the poor of all faiths, including Hindus, Christians, and Parsis, should benefit from reservations.
Modi was campaigning to support the BJP candidate and incumbent MP Dr Heena Gavit in Nandurbar. Gavit defeated Congress candidate and former state minister KC Padavi in the last Lok Sabha election. This time, she aims to win her third term in Nandurbar.
