"If Congress' intentions were clear...": BSP chief Mayawati responds to Rahul Gandhi's clarification on reservation

The BSP chief also warned people from deprived sections of society to remain vigilant and emphasised the need for caution regarding the Congress party's intentions.

"Congress leader Shri Rahul Gandhi's clarification that he is not against reservation is clearly a misleading false statement. This is proof that during his 10 years of active participation in the government before the BJP came to power in the Centre, he, along with SP did not let the SC/ST reservation bill in promotions get passed," Mayawati posted on X.

"Their (Congress) talk of increasing the reservation limit in the country from 50 per cent is also a deception, because if their intentions in this matter were clear, this work would definitely have been done in the previous Congress governments. Congress neither implemented the OBC reservation nor implemented SC/ST reservation properly," she said.

"It is clear from this that when Congress is not in power, it talks big about the interests and welfare of these neglected SC/ST/OBC classes for the sake of their vote interest, but when it is in power, it continuously works against their interests. Works. These people should be aware of their conspiracy," the BSP leader said.

On Monday, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said that the Congress party will think of scrapping reservations when India becomes a "fair place," which it is not.

The Congress leader who was on a visit to the US was interacting with students and faculty at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, on Monday (local time).

Gandhi also reiterated the need to conduct a caste census while saying that 90 per cent of the country's population -- OBCs, Dalits and Adivasis-- not having proper representation in the country is the "elephant in the room."

"There's an elephant in the room. When we talk about the capture of institutions, businesses, and the media, the elephant in the room is that 90 per cent of India--OBCs, Dalits, Adivasis--aren't even part of the game. That's really the elephant in the room," Rahul Gandhi said.

He further said that the Caste Census is a simple exercise to assess the participation of lower castes, backward castes, and Dalits stand since Independence.

Being asked about his stand on reservation, Rahul Gandhi said that the Dalits, Adivasis and OBC communities are still not getting participation in the system, adding that India is not a "fair place."

"If you look at the Indian government, there are 70 bureaucrats who run the Indian government, secretaries to the government of India. These are the people who make almost all the financial decisions...Out of 70 people, there is one tribal, three Dalits, three OBCs and a minority. 90 per cent of India in the government of India has access to less than 10 per cent of the positions that determine how money is going to be spent. When you look at the financial numbers, then tribals get 10 paise out of Rs 100, Dalits get Rs 5 out of Rs 100, and OBCs get a similar amount," the Congress leader further said.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha further stressed that the INDIA bloc wants to defend the Constitution and most of the alliance partners agree on holding a caste census, adding that 'two businessmen' should not run every business in the country. (ANI)