BJP calls Rahul Gandhi's Valmiki temple visit a political stunt, accuses Congress of anti-reservation

New Delhi, Oct 17 (IANS) Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi offered prayers at a Valmiki temple on the occasion of Valmiki Jayanti on Thursday. BJP has called this hypocrisy and alleged that Congress has a history of opposing reservations.

Amit Malviya, head of the BJP IT cell, took to social media platform X to criticise Rahul Gandhi. He wrote, "Today is Valmiki Jayanti, and Congress prince Rahul Gandhi is pretending with his temple visit. So, it’s important to remind people of Congress’s anti-reservation stance. Rahul Gandhi recently said in the United States that he would 'remove reservation.' This is the same narrative his family has followed since Nehru's time."

Malviya went on to accuse the Nehru-Gandhi family of consistently undermining reservation efforts. He pointed out that Jawaharlal Nehru’s government rejected the Kaka Kalelkar report in 1956, which proposed the reservation for backward classes.

He said, “In a 1961 letter to Chief Ministers, Nehru criticised reservations, claiming they led to inefficiency and lower standards. Nehru also allegedly sidelined Dr B. R. Ambedkar, and worked to defeat him in the Lok Sabha elections.”

Malviya said further, “Indira Gandhi delayed the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, which recommended OBC reservations. Rajiv Gandhi, in 1985, reportedly referred to reserved category candidates as ‘idiots’ and later opposed the Mandal Commission's recommendations in 1990.”

Malviya also highlighted Congress’ efforts to provide reservations for Muslim communities, particularly in Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2010. He claimed that Congress’ move to include Muslims in the OBC category deprived other backward classes of their rightful quota.

The BJP leader further criticised the Congress for actions in Karnataka and Maharashtra that allegedly undermined OBC rights.

Malviya also pointed to Congress-led amendments, such as the 93rd Constitutional Amendment in 2005, which exempted minority institutions from providing reservations. This, he argued, stripped backward communities of their rights in numerous institutions, including Jamia Millia and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), which were classified as minority institutions during Congress rule.