New Delhi: Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will project Congress's commitment to protect the Constitution and the provision of reservations enshrined in the document to counter the BJP false allegations in the ongoing Lok Sabha campaign.
According to party strategists, the BJP’s stand that it needed 400 seats to change the Constitution was aimed at tinkering with the provisions of reservations. The party strategists feel that the threat of removing caste-based reservations was resonating with the people in the villages and denting the saffron party’s prospects.
The party insiders said that PM Modi suddenly brought up the Adani-Ambani issue during his campaign on May 8 to deflect public attention from the opposition’s charge that the ruling party wanted to tinker with the reservations.
Accordingly, the party managers have arranged a national level convention on Constitution in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow on May 10 where Rahul Gandhi will articulate his views on the issue. Before that, Rahul and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav will address joint rallies in Kannauj and Kanpur seats respectively.
“Rahul Gandhi will address a national convention on Constitution in Lucknow on May 10. The BJP’s threat of changing the Constitution which could remove reservations system has concerned people across villages in the country. Various BJP leaders have said during the campaign that the party needs 400 seats to change the Constitution. Our leader reiterates his commitment to protect the Constitution at every election rally he addresses but there is a need to amplify the message. The message of his speech in Lucknow will go across the country,” AICC secretary in charge of UP Tauqir Alam told ETV Bharat.
“The PM is concerned over the negative impact of the 400 plus campaign in the rural parts of the country and therefore tried to deflect public attention by bringing up the issue of Adani and Ambani who are actually his friends. But we have to keep the focus on the need to protect the Constitution,” he said.
According to the AICC functionary, the PM was concerned over the dent that his negative campaign was making on the ground and was therefore hurling false charges against the Congress.
“First, he said our manifesto bore the imprint of the Muslim League. Then he said we wanted to give reservation to Muslims based on religion. That is totally false. Our manifesto does not make any such mention. Further, backward Muslims are getting reservation as per the OBC quota,” said Alam.
“The PM is doing all this because the first three phases of polling dented the saffron party’s plans in the Hindi belt be it UP or Bihar. Not only the Congress but all the INDIA bloc partners have been flagging the need to protect the Constitution. The INDIA bloc campaign is going very well in UP and Bihar. Over the coming days, we will take this message down to the villages and make people aware of the Congress manifesto,” he said.
Citing an old speech of Rahul Gandhi inside Parliament, the AICC functionary said his questioning the link between the PM and Adani had actually cost him his Lok Sabha membership but the leader got it back after a long legal battle.
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