Ahmedabad, Sep 26 (PTI) Criticizing Congress MP Geniben Thakor’s demand of splitting the OBC quota, Gujarat minister Jagdish Vishwakarma on Thursday alleged that the opposition party was trying to divide society to gain power.
Vishwakarma, who himself belongs to Other Backward Classes (OBCs), also claimed that Rahul Gandhi was teaching this tactic of “divide and rule” to other Congress leaders.
“Why did Geniben never raise this issue when Congress was in power at the Centre? Why is Congress not implementing it in the states where it is in power? From Geniben to Rahul Gandhi, all Congress leaders are trying to divide society on caste lines to acquire power,” the Minister of State for MSMEs told reporters in Gandhinagar.
“Just like the divide and rule strategy of the Britishers, Rahul Gandhi also believes in the same policy and he is teaching it to other party leaders because of his foreign blood,” said Vishwakarma.
Recently, Thakor, who represents Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat, demanded that the existing 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs be divided into two parts.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi dated September 17, Thakor said of the 146 backward castes in Gujarat, only five to ten castes were getting most of the reservation benefits while some “extremely backward castes” received very little.
Communities such as Thakor, Koli, Vadi, Dabgar, Kharva, Madari, Nat, Salat, Vanzara, Dhobi, Mochi and Vaghri did not get desired benefits of the quota, she claimed.
To end the disparity, Thakor suggested that the OBC quota be split into two parts — 7 per cent quota for those who have received most benefits so far, and a 20 per cent quota for the extremely backward communities. PTI PJT PD KRK
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