Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday hit out at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, saying the latter indulges in anti-India rant every time he goes on foreign visits. "There is serialised periodic anti-India rant on foreign soil by one holding a Constitutional position," Dhankhar said without taking Gandhi's name. "It is a matter of concern, a matter of contemplation, a matter of deliberation."
The Vice President further said that today a person holding a constitutional position goes abroad and says reservation must end. "Look at the pattern of prejudice against reservations that have been handed over. Keeping in mind my Constitutional position, let me assure you Reservation is the conscience of the Constitution. Reservation is in our constitution with positivity, with great meaning, to bring about social equality and to cut into inequalities."
Dhankhar inaugurated Samvidhan Mandir at Elphinstone Technical High School & Jr. College in Mumbai. Speaking at the event, he said Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar Saheb was awarded the Bharat Ratna on 31st March 1990. "It was given late but justice was done because Baba Saheb always took care that justice was done to those who were deprived."
"Another important issue which is related to the thoughts of Baba Saheb. For ten years after the Mandal Commission report was released, there were two Prime Ministers in the country, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, but not even a leaf moved on that report. The foundation of social justice was laid firmly by Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar in the form of a fundamental right. The Mandal Commission recommendations were implemented in August 1990."
Earlier this month, Gandhi, who was on a 3-day visit to the US, told students at Georgetown University that the Congress would think of scrapping the reservation when "India is a fair place". The BJP hit back at Congress as Gandhi had made a "threat to reservation" a major poll plank in the Lok Sabha elections.
Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at the Congress, alleging that the "royal family" of the opposition party wants to do away with the reservation for Dalits. He asserted that as long as he is there, he will not allow a fraction of the quota given by B R Ambedkar to be looted or removed.
Addressing the rally in Kurukshetra district, Modi accused the Gandhi family of being the "biggest anti-Dalit, anti-OBC and anti-tribal" force in the country. "They have now said if they come to power, they will end the reservation for Dalits and the downtrodden. This is the truth of this family," Modi said.