Congress and BJP clash over OBC reservation and appeasement politics
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party are engaged in a war of words over the issue of Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation and appeasement politics.
The BJP has accused the Congress of trying to appease minority communities by including Muslims in the 27% OBC reservation in Karnataka. BJP Delhi President Virendra Sachdeva said, "The way Congress is snatching the rights of OBCs for appeasement of minority communities, India won't tolerate this."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also joined the attack on the Congress, alleging that the party's manifesto is full of promises aimed at furthering its appeasement politics. He claimed that the Congress manifesto has the "stamp of the Muslim League" and that Congress wanted to distribute private wealth among the Muslim community.
Meanwhile, the Congress has denied these allegations and accused the BJP of spreading lies. Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge said, "They (BJP) are saying that we (Congress) will take away your wealth and give it away to the Muslims. This didn't even happen during the time of the Nizams. We are a democracy now and the Congress party will not let such a time come. If they also want to do this, then we will stop them. Congress will not take away anybody's Mangalsutra."
The Congress has also pointed out that it was a BJP-backed government that awarded the Bharat Ratna to Dalit leader Dr BR Ambedkar. They have accused the BJP of trying to erase the contributions of Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs to the country.
The war of words between the BJP and the Congress over OBC reservation and appeasement politics is likely to continue in the run-up to the upcoming elections.