“No need to go there and talk about reservations”: Union Minister Athawale on Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in USA

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], September 10 (ANI): Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday slammed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his remarks made in the USA, saying that there is no need to go outside India and talk about reservations, adding that as long as Prime Minister Modi is alive, there is no threat to the Constitution.

“I think reservation in India will end when people from the bottom come up; here everyone should get economic justice along with social justice. When Rahul Gandhi goes outside India, he talks against India. There is no need to go there and talk about reservations. The Constitution is not in danger. As long as Prime Minister Modi and we are alive, there is no threat to the Constitution,” Athawale said.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said that the Congress party will think of scrapping reservations when India becomes a “fair place,” which it is not.

The Congress leader was interacting with students and faculty at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, on Monday (local time).

He also reiterated the need to conduct a caste census while saying that 90 per cent of the country’s population — OBCs, Dalits and Adivasis– not having proper representation in the country is the “elephant in the room.”

“There’s an elephant in the room. When we talk about the capture of institutions, businesses, and the media, the elephant in the room is that 90% of India–OBCs, Dalits, Adivasis–aren’t even part of the game. That’s really the elephant in the room,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He further said that the Caste Census is a simple exercise to assess the participation of lower castes, backward castes, and Dalits stand since independence.

Being asked about his stand on reservation, Rahul Gandhi said that the Dalits, Adivasis and OBC communities are still not getting participation in the system, adding that India is not a “fair place.”

“If you look at the Indian government, there are 70 bureaucrats who run the Indian government, secretaries to the government of India. These are the people who make almost all the financial decisions…Out of 70 people there is one tribal, three Dalits, three OBCs and a minority. 90 per cent of India in the government of India has access to less than 10 per cent of the positions that determine how money is going to be spent. When you look at the financial numbers, then Tribals get 10 paise out of Rs 100, Dalits get Rs 5 out of Rs 100, and OBCs get a similar amount,” the Congress leader further said.

The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha further stressed that the INDIA bloc wants to defend the Constitution and most of the alliance partners agree on holding a caste census, adding that ‘two businessmen’ should not run every business in the country.

Rahul Gandhi is on a visit to the United States. He will be in Washington for two days before departing to Delhi. Earlier in the day, he addressed the Indian diaspora in Virginia.

Gandhi, who arrived in Dallas on Sunday, also interacted with students and teachers at the University of Texas. He also addressed the members of the Indian diaspora in Dallas.