Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched a scathing attack on the Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi for promising a caste census, which he said was made to influence voters as an electoral gimmick.
Addressing a rally in Jharkhand's Mahagama, Singh dared the Congress to come up with a clear-cut plan for dividing reservation benefits among the multitude of castes and sub-castes existing in the country.
The Congress should explain how it would distribute the reservation quotas among all the groups - about 1,200 Scheduled Castes, over 750 Scheduled Tribes and about 2,500 Other Backward Classes. "In 2011, a socio-economic caste census was done, revealing that there existed around 46 lakh castes, sub-castes and gotras. According to the Ministry of Social Welfare, there are about 1,200 Scheduled Castes (SC), more than 750 Scheduled Tribes (ST), and around 2,500 Other Backward Classes (OBCs). How will the Congress manage the distribution of reservation quotas among all these groups? " Singh asked.
He asked the Congress to vividly visualize an outline of how such a system would be implemented.
Singh also lambasted Gandhi, saying, "He should answer how many castes reside in India. Politics should be about serving the people, not just forming a government."
Congress accused of playing "opportunistic politics". "The party has historically ruined alliances with regional partners such as the RJD in Bihar, JKNC in Jammu & Kashmir, and now it is the turn of DMK in Tamil Nadu", he said.
"The Congress uses these alliances to attain power, but ultimately it harms its partners", he said.
Corruption "The ruling JMM-Congress-RJD coalition in Jharkhand was indulging in widespread malpractices and irregularities, to the extent of even taking bribes for issuing death certificates," Singh claimed.
He pits this against the BJP's record in the state, where he said, "So far, 13 chief ministers have governed Jharkhand, but none of the three BJP CMs ever faced corruption charges or went to jail".
Speaking with NDTV, Singh said that the party had very high hopes for the ongoing elections in Jharkhand. According to his forecast, the Bharatiya Janata Party would win two-thirds of the 43 seats where polling was held in the first phase on November 13.
That the voter turnout has increased by three percent will be an indication that the government here in the state is strongly supported by its people and assured of a sound future in a corruption-free atmosphere under BJP's coalition regime," said he.
Later, addressing rallies at Khijri in Ranchi and Tundi in Dhanbad, defence minister said that credibility is the biggest asset of any political outfit and that the BJP has never compromised on that whereas other parties make "false promises to lure voters for political gains.".
Singh also appealed to the people to vote for the BJP and assist the saffron camp of forming an NDA government for the coming two successive terms so that Jharkhand can be brought in the category of developed states.
"Credibility is the biggest asset of any political outfit and the BJP never compromises with it. It has fulfilled all promises made since the Jan Sangh era, unlike other political parties which make false promises, deceive masses just to retain power," Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
India is "developing fast" but the progress of Jharkhand has been "halted in the current JMM-led coalition regime", he claimed.
Singh said such a change in the present system is necessary to "check corruption in Jharkhand".
BJP leader asserted that NDA will form the government in the state with "absolute majority".
He also accused Rahul Gandhi of promising a caste-based census to "fool masses for garnering votes".
Singh questioned how the Congress would distribute quota among people belonging to several castes.
He also hit the JMM-led coalition over Champai Soren resigning as the CM of Jharkhand.
"There was no problem if Champai Soren was allowed to continue as CM, but they wanted to loot Jharkhand, at least that is what it seems like in this case," Singh claimed.
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