New Delhi, May 29:
The BJP on Thursday attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the issue of OBC representation, calling him a “hypocrite” who speaks about caste census and OBC rights but does not promote OBC leaders to top posts.
This remark came with Siddaramaiah stepping down as Karnataka chief minister and D K Shivakumar taking over the role.
In a video message, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that several Congress leaders, including V D Satheesan, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, and Revanth Reddy, do not belong to the OBC community.
“Rahul Gandhi has said that rights should be proportionate to population and has repeatedly discussed caste issues. However, his principles are like the tusks of an elephant — different in appearance from their actual use. He is a hypocrite, saying one thing and doing another,” Poonawalla said.
He also said that Shivakumar replacing Siddaramaiah means there would be “no OBC CM” in Congress-ruled states.
Noting that Siddaramaiah, who is from the OBC community and used to appeal to AHINDA (which represents three marginalised communities in Karnataka), has been removed from his post, Poonawalla questioned the current number of OBC chief ministers.
“In Kerala, Satheesan ji; in Himachal Pradesh, Sukhu ji; in Telangana, Revanth Reddy ji; and in Karnataka, you have removed Siddaramaiah ji. So where is the OBC representation?” he asked.
He alleged that the Congress party’s principles and practices regarding caste are inconsistent.
“It is not represented even within the first family’s RGF Trust or the Congress Working Committee. In contrast, the BJP has made an OBC leader the Prime Minister, who is currently serving his third term. This highlights the difference between Congress and BJP,” he said.
Accusing the Congress of targeting backward class leaders, Poonawalla said the party “only tries to divide but never walks the talk” and had insulted leaders such as Sitaram Kesri and B R Ambedkar.
“They have gone against the principles of Ambedkar ji when they advocate the implementation of Article 370 or Muslim reservation. They are actually anti-OBC and anti-backward classes,” he alleged.