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PM Modi a staunch defender of SC, ST and OBC reservations, says BJP leader (Getty)
Asked whether the preamble would return to its original form if the BJP is re-elected, Dushyant Kumar Gautam said: “This? Yes. The word ‘secular’ should not be inserted in it (the preamble). This hurts the soul.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday claimed that the Congress party, which had always opposed reservations for Dalits and backwards, had also “attacked” the Constitution by inserting the word “secular” in the preamble when it was in power.
The allegations by the BJP come as the Congress party has been claiming that the saffron party is seeking over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls to amend the constitution and end reservation for members of Scheduled Castes (SC). (OBC) if voted into power.
Slamming the Congress party at a press conference at the BJP headquarters, party national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam said: “They have repeatedly said that they will amend the Constitution. Ambedkar had said that the Constitution The preamble is the soul of the Constitution, but they added the word “secular” in it, which is the biggest attack on the Constitution.
Asked whether the preamble would return to its original form if the BJP is re-elected, he said: “This? Yes. The word ‘secular’ should not be inserted in it (the preamble). This hurts BR Ambedkar’s soul.
Gautam claimed that the Congress party has been opposed to providing reservation to “Dalits and backwards” since its “birth” and provided a cream layer during its rule to “end reservation”.
“In a letter to all the chief ministers on June 27, 1961, Jawaharlal Nehru (then prime minister) made it clear that he did not like any form of reservation, especially in services. Congress Party and its leaders have not shown any respect for the Constitution as it has offered nothing in the name of reservation of Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia (Milia) Islamia University,” the BJP leader charged.
When asked whether the BJP would provide quota to Dalits and backwards in AMU and Jamia Millia Islamia if elected, Gautam said: “For this, we will prepare a draft and make every effort. They should get reservation. We fought for Dalits earlier too.
Gautam claimed that the Congress party had denied reservation to Dalits and members of backward classes in Jammu and Kashmir (JK) by granting special status to the erstwhile state under Article 370.
The Modi government abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019, thereby ending the special status given to JK and bifurcated it into two Union Territories – JK and Ladakh.
The BJP leader said Prime Minister Modi is a “staunch defender” of SC, ST and OBC reservations.
He said the Prime Minister had publicly declared that as long as he was alive, no one would interfere with reservation for Dalits and backward classes.
“Prime Minister Modi delivered a speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort and allocated Rs 200 crore to establish Dalit chambers of commerce in 1.25 lakh bank branches for the Dalit community,” he added.
Gautam claimed that Congress wanted to redistribute “resources of Dalits and backward classes” to specific communities by levying inheritance tax.
“The anti-Dalit and anti-backward mentality within the Indian Union has reached such an extent that they question Prime Minister Modi for worshiping Bhagwan Shri Ram just because he belongs to the Teli (oil-pressing) community,” he charged.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a Yonhap news agency feed – PTI)
