Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday made another serious charge against the Congress, saying the grand old party during its rule wanted to allocate 15% of the government budget for minorities. He said he won't allow splitting of budget or reservation in jobs and education on the basis of religion.
Addressing an election rally at Pimpalgaon Baswant in north Maharashtra's Nashik, Modi claimed the Congress, when in power at the Centre, had drawn up plans to allocate 15% of the total budget to minorities.
"When I was the chief minister (of Gujarat), the Congress had brought up this proposal. The BJP opposed this move strongly and hence it could not be implemented. But the Congress wants to bring this proposal again," he told the gathering.
The Prime Minister said Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution, was firmly against religion-based reservation in jobs and education. He said Ambedkar was against religion-based quota, but the Congress wanted to take away reservation rights of SCs/STs/OBCs and give them to Muslims. "Modi is the chowkidar (watchman) of rights of deprived sections of society and will never let the Congress take away their rights," the PM said.
On Sunday, Home Minister Amit Shah targeted former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, saying she spent more than 70% of her MP funds on minorities in Rae Bareli. "You gave the Gandhi family a chance for years, but no development work has been done. They (Congress) do not believe in development. They do not even come to you in your happiness and sorrows," Shah said at an election rally in Raebareli.
In an interview with ANI, Shah said: "We object to (funding for) 'minority only'. Are the rest of the voters not yours? Are you taking them for granted? It is just a small question."