Maharashtra BJP stages protest against Rahul Gandhi over quota remarks; Cong calls it drama

PTI, Sep 13, 2024, 1:35 PM IST

Workers and leaders of Maharashtra BJP on Friday held state-wide protests against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on reservation during his visit to the US.

While Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said it was necessary to stage a protest to tell people about Gandhi’s mentality against reservation, Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat accused the saffron party of spreading fake news and doing “nautanki” (drama).

Gandhi, who is in the US, told students of Georgetown University that the Congress would think of scrapping reservations when “India is a fair place”, which he said is not the case right now.

During a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, the Leader of Opposition alleged that democracy in India for the last 10 years was broken, but now it is fighting back.

The BJP announced a state-wide protest over Gandhi’s “anti-reservation” remarks.

In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra Housing Minister Atul Save staged a demonstration with party workers, carrying placards and raising slogans against Gandhi.

During the protest in Mumbai, BJP’s Dahisar MLA Manisha Chowdhary claimed the Congress has been opposing reservations from the days of late Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to Rahul Gandhi.

Gandhi’s “anti-reservation” stand is exposed, she said.

Slamming the BJP for staging protests, Thorat accused the party of spreading fake news and doing “nautanki” (drama).

He further pointed out that Gandhi, in his remarks, never said reservations would be done away with.

“What are BJP leaders protesting for? They don’t even feel the need to verify information. But people will not be swayed by their fake narrative. People know that it is the BJP that is anti-Constitution and anti-reservation,” Thorat wrote in a post on X.