INDIA bloc govt will end 50 pc cap on quota: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday if elected, the INDIA bloc government will end the 50 per cent cap on reservation.

Addressing an election rally in Gorakhpur’s Bansgaon with Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav for the Congress’s Bansgaon candidate Sadal Prasad and Deoria candidate Akhilesh Pratap Singh, he said, “These elections are a battle of ideologies. There is INDIA bloc and the Constitution on one side and those who want to finish the Constitution on the other.”

“The INDIA bloc will protect the Constitution with “dil, jaan aur khoon (heart, life and blood)”, he said and added that the alliance will end the 50 per cent cap on reservation while also increasing it. The Congress leader also mocked the PM over his “sent by God” comment and said the God sent Modi to help the rich and not the poor.

Holding up a copy of the Constitution and a photograph of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, Rahul Gandhi said Ambedkar dedicated his life to the Constitution.

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“Dalits faced atrocities for years. In our Constitution, they were given honour. But now, the BJP says that it will tear apart Ambedkar’s work. No force can dare to tear the Constitution of Dr Ambedkar and (Jawaharlal) Nehru,” the former Congress president said.

Continuing his attack on the ruling party, he alleged neither the President of India nor any Dalit community leader was invited to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Lord Ram in Ayodhya in January this year.

On the Agnipath scheme, he alleged that military personnel had been converted to labourers without old pension and other benefits. Rahul Gandhi said if voted to power, the INDIA bloc government will scrap the scheme.

“Modi ji has turned soldiers into labourers. The Centre has made two categories in the Army -- Agniveer and others. If an Agniveer gets injured or is martyred, they will neither get a martyr status nor compensation. Why is this discrimination” he asked.

The Congress leader promised to waive farmers’ loans and give ₹8,500 per month to every woman from BPL (below poverty line) households.

“From July, ₹8,500 will be deposited in the accounts of women from BPL (below poverty line) households every month ... This will change their financial condition. Initially, we will give you ₹1 lakh annually, later we may increase it to ₹2 lakh,” he said.

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In Varanasi, Rahul appealed to people to make UPCC chief Ajay Rai win against PM Modi by a huge margin. He claimed that Modi will not be the PM after June 4 (counting day).

Addressing a joint rally with the SP chief, he said every vote cast for the INDIA bloc in “this historic election” will not only elect MPs but will also protect democracy and the Constitution.

Akhilesh attacks BJP over paper leaks

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav attacked the BJP, saying the ruling party always keeps its bulldozers ready but does not use them against those involved in exam paper leaks.

He alleged that development projects of the BJP had failed to reach Deoria and Kushinagar and farmers were feeling cheated as the ruling party’s promise of doubling their income was not fulfilled.

“The bulldozer of these people (the Yogi government) remains always ready, but when it comes to run over the people who leak exam papers, the keys get lost somewhere,” Yadav said.

The SP chief further alleged that one lakh farmers had committed suicide in the last 10 years even as the PM kept silence over minimum support price (MSP) for their crops. He promised if voted to power, the INDIA bloc government will provide MSP to farmers’ produce.

Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party in Varanasi, the SP chief said, “Earlier, I was telling that the INDIA bloc will win all the seats except one in Uttar Pradesh. However, today I can say while BJP were considering Kyoto (a potshot on Kashi’s development) their seat, this too they are going to lose.

“I have full confidence that this time the people of Kashi will not only vote for Congress’s Ajay Rai, but they will also make him win by a record margin,” he added.

“The anger that I have been seeing among the public for the BJP since the first phase (of Lok Sabha polls) has increased with each passing phase,” he said.

“Those who pledged to make Maa Ganga clean could not do so,” he alleged.