"Congress wants to end reservation": BJP attacks Nana Patole for reservation remark

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 25 : Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday slammed Congress leader Nana Patole for endorsing Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's statement on reservations made in the US and said that the Congress wants to end reservation for Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe (SC/STs).
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla lashed out at Nana Patole and said, he is against the Constitution and reservation.
"Dalit virodhi Congress Keeps Kharge ji out Insults Kumari Selja ji Now wants to end reservations !!" Poonawalla posted on X.
BJP National Spokesperson CR Kesavan said that Nana Patole's ringing endorsement of Rahul Gandhi's remarks on reservation very clearly "unmasks the extreme anti-Ambedkar mindset" of the Congress and also "exposes the corrosive, casteist mentality" of the Congress party.
"Nana Patole has always been abusing our SC/ST and OBC brothers and sisters...Prime Minister Narendra Modi will ensure that the safeguards given to our SC/ST brothers and sisters are protected for generations to come," Kesavan said in a self-made video.
Earlier, BJP leader Pradeep Bhandari attacked the Congress Maharashtra chief Nana Patole and said that Congress wants to end the reservation of Dalits if it comes to power in the state.
"Huge! Congress Maharashtra chief Nana Patole says "Nothing wrong in ending reservation at some time." Congress's intentions are clear. Congress wants to end reservation of Dalits if it comes to power in Maharashtra," Pradeep Bhandari posted on X with a video of Nana Patole.
BJP national spokesperson Amit Malviya also attacked Patole and said that as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP are around, no one will be able to even touch reservations.
"Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole endorses Rahul Gandhi's 'we will remove reservations' statement. Provisions for reservation were provided to redress decades of social discrimination. But the Congress has decided to remove reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs. All their recent moves and statements are aimed at building ground for it. Let this be known. As long as Prime Minister Modi and BJP are around, no one will be able to even touch reservations provided by Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, let alone remove it. India's Constitution is supreme. BJP will defend it at all cost, at all times," Amit Malviya posted on X.
However, Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said that to listen to Rahul Gandhi's statement to know what he has said exactly.
"You should first listen to what he has said exactly. Once there is equality there will be no need for reservation. At that time reservation will be removed," Balasaheb Thorat told ANI.
Congress leader Nana Patole's statement over 'ending reservation debate' has sparked a political controversy as he endorsed the remark made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the reservation.
"What Rahul Gandhi say? What he said over there, "ki jab hamare desh mai sb barabari ke honge tab hum log reservation ke barai mai sochenge. Iske galat kya hai? (What is wrong in this?)," Nana Patole reportedly said during an interview to a news channel.
Notably in September while interacting with students and faculty at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress party would think of scrapping reservations when India becomes a "fair place," which it is not.
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."
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 the 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."