‘Standing with forces that conspire to divide the country’: Amit Shah’s dig at Rahul Gandhi over reservation remark

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah came down heavily on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday for his comments on the issue of reservation, asserting that it has once again exposed the Congress’ anti-reservation stance.

In response to Gandhi’s remarks about possibly reconsidering reservations if India becomes a fairer place, Shah firmly stated that the BJP will not allow anyone to abolish reservations or jeopardise the nation’s security.

Also Read:BJP slams Rahul Gandhi as ‘Black spot on Indian democracy’ amid his US remarks

Shah’s remarks followed Gandhi’s statement to Georgetown University students in the US, where Gandhi said the Congress would consider eliminating reservations only when “India is a fair place,” which he argued is not the situation currently.

Taking it to X, Shah wrote: “Standing with forces that conspire to divide the country and making anti-national statements have become a habit for Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party.”

He added that Rahul Gandhi has consistently jeopardised the nation’s security and offended sentiments, whether by backing the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference’s “anti-national and anti-reservation agenda” or making “anti-India statements” on international platforms.

“Rahul Gandhi’s statement lays bare the Congress’s politics of causing rifts on the lines of regionalism, religion, and linguistic differences. By speaking about abolishing reservations in the country, Rahul Gandhi has once again brought the Congress’s anti-reservation face to the forefront,” Shah said in his post on X.

Also Read:Rahul Gandhi in USA: ‘Within minutes of Lok Sabha results, fear of BJP vanished’

The Union Home Minister said that the ideas in the Lok Sabha leader of the opposition’s mind have eventually been expressed through his words. “I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that as long as the BJP is there, neither can anyone abolish reservations nor can anyone mess with the nation’s security,” he said.

What did Rahul Gandhi say?

During his visit to the US, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi highlighted the caste census issue, stating that his party would consider ending reservations only when “India is a fair place.”

Also Read:Rahul Gandhi arrives in Dallas for US visit to engage in discussion with Indian diaspora

In an interaction with students and faculty at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, Gandhi pointed out that 90 per cent of India’s population—comprising OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis—are largely excluded from major sectors. He said, “The elephant in the room is that 90 per cent of India — OBCs, Dalits and Adivasis don’t play the game…Caste census is a simple exercise to know how the lower castes, backward castes and Dalits are integrated into the system…Out of the top 200 businesses in India, there is almost no ownership of 90 per cent of the population of India. In the highest courts of the country, there is almost no participation of 90 per cent of India. In media, there is zero participation of lower castes, OBCs, Dalits…”

He further said, “We will think of scrapping of reservations when India is a fair place and India is not a fair place … that way it is a problem.. because there are many people who come from the upper castes who say look what have we done wrong .. why we are being punished.. and so then you think of increasing dramatically the supply of some of these things, you think of decentralisation power, you think of involving many more in the governance…”