"Congress manifesto is regressive while ours...": Rajnath Singh

New Delhi [India], April 11 : Terming the Congress manifesto as "regressive," Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that the Bharatiya Janata Party manifesto would be "progressive," which will be released soon.
In an interview with ANI, Rajnath Singh said that minority appeasement is not new for the Congress or the INDIA bloc adding that the BJP doesn't indulge in appeasement.
"The minority appeasement is not new for Congress or INDI Alliance. They are doing that for quite some time now. BJP doesn't do appeasement to any. "Justice to all, Appeasement to none." And we work on this principle," the Defence Minister said.
On Congress promising to conduct a Caste Census nationwide, the Defence Minister said that the Congress might be seeing some political gains that may be the reason for mentioning it in their manifesto.
"Maybe they are seeing some political gains that is why they are talking about it. I do not want to comment on this issue but I would like to say on their manifesto that their manifesto is regressive while ours is very progressive, which will be unveiled soon," he added.
Responding to the promises made by the Congress of removing the 'Agniveer scheme' which PM Modi termed it as a "game changer", Singh said that the Congress is making such promises as they are aware that they will not be able to form the government.
"They (Congress) know that they are not going the form the government. That's why they have made these kinds of promises. Why do they want to end the scheme? We are selecting the youth of 18 years in the Army and good training is being imparted to them. Technological training is being provided to them and after four years if they are well skilled, the certificate will be provided."
"In the paramilitary forces, we have made provision for reservation. But not only in paramilitary forces but also in many other such institutions. Even some private institutions said that they would provide reservations to Agniveers. At the age of 18, they will be admitted, and even if they leave after 4 years, they will be 22 years old, right? After this, they can sit in the Union Public Service Commission competition and many other competitions. This is indeed an attempt to mislead the soldiers of the country. The scheme has been started keeping in mind the interests of the youth and their future," he added.
He further questioned Congress for not doing anything to benefit the soldiers when they were at the helm of affairs for maximum time.
"Till now these people (congress) haven't done anything that should have been done for the soldiers of this country. We are giving such opportunities to the soldiers. I want to reiterate the point again and also want to tell this to my Congress friends that politics should not be done for forming the government, but politics should be done for building the nation," he said.
When asked about the reason behind Congressmen joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, he said that the people who are working in Congress have understood this is "parivarwadi party."
"The people who are working in Congress have understood the purpose for which the Congress Party was formed is no longer that. This party will be a parivarwadi party. And they believe that the welfare of this country will not happen from the Congress party. And it is the BJP that can take this country to the pinnacle. That's why they are joining our party," Rajnath Singh said.
"There are some weaknesses and they have to accept this. But whatever happens, the leadership will be taken by the same family. The family is running the Congress, hence the condition of the Congress is becoming like this. And Congress people have started understanding. For this reason, many Congress veterans are coming to Bharatiya Janata Party," he added.
When asked whether he sees any "leadership quality" in Rahul Gandhi, Rajnath refrained from commenting on him.
"I don't want to say anything about him now. I don't comment on everyone," he said.
Earlier on April 5, the Congress party promised to pass a constitutional amendment to raise the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent cap on reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC).
The party also promised to conduct a nationwide Socio-Economic and Caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions.
To put a curb on rampant defections, the Congress has promised to amend the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and make defection (leaving the original party on which the MLA or MP was elected) an automatic disqualification of the membership in the Assembly or Parliament.
The Congress has also promised to implement a reservation of 10 per cent in jobs and educational institutions for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) for all castes and communities without discrimination.
To prevent violence against doctors, Congress said that it would pass a law making it an offence to commit acts of violence against healthcare professionals while performing their duties.
The party has also promised to enact separate legislation for the registration of sports federations or bodies or associations which will ensure full compliance with the Olympic Charter, allow for autonomy and full accountability, and provide recourse for members and sportspersons against discrimination, bias, sexual harassment, abuse, wrongful termination, etc.
The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 would be held in seven phases starting on April 19 and ending on June 1. The results will be declared on June 4.