Paromita Das
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 28th May. Context of the Lok Sabha elections of 2019
On September 5, 2018, Congress national media coordinator Randeep Singh Surjewala remarked, “Congress has the blood of Brahmin community in its DNA,” when speaking at a Brahmin convention in Kurukshetra. He added, ”Brahmins will receive reservations if Congress takes power.”
In Surjewala Saheb’s opinion, the Congress Party’s loss of Brahmin votes contributed to the BJP’s victory at the Center in 2014.
Surjewala did not realize that Brahmins are, for the most part, a logical community, with a few outliers. Their efforts served the nation’s interests. Brahmins in Uttar Pradesh had already expressed concerns about Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. However, the Brahmins also bestowed their blessing upon the Yogi upon realizing that he was performing well. Few people are aware that Brahmins fought for their freedom in greater numbers than any other caste in Uttar Pradesh during the independence movement.
Context of the Lok Sabha elections of 2024
Rahul Gandhi now believes that the Congress’s situation has deteriorated as a result of backward votes being slipped through. Therefore, they claim that “the country’s current system is against the backward classes.”
Regarding this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, “The Shehzada has acknowledged that the system established by his father and grandmother was in opposition to SC-ST and OBC.”
Indeed, Modi Ji overlooked Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, in this chronology, as he was Rahul’s grandmother’s father. Jawaharlal Nehru had already written to the Chief Ministers in the 1950s, opposing the implementation of reservations for the lower classes. Rajiv, Indira, and they all followed his trail. Additionally, Nehru rejected the Kaka Kalelkar Commission’s recommendations.
Furthermore, Nehru had pushed for individuals of the same caste to hold the positions of Vice President, Prime Minister, and President soon following independence. At a high-level Congress meeting about the President’s position, Nehru threatened to quit as Prime Minister if C. Rajagopalachari was not appointed President. That time, Dr. S was running for Vice President. The name of Radhakrishnan was predetermined. However, Nehru’s strategy was unsuccessful. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was appointed President by Sardar Patel. Today, this defines the mind-set that underlies this, both in Nehru and his subsequent family.
Even after winning an overwhelming majority in the assembly of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the Congress never appointed a backward class person as Chief Minister in the decades immediately after independence. It is considered noble to admit your mistake if you also have the inclination to correct it. But Congress never did this. Congress kept reneging on promises from time to time.
Good governance was promised. But, scams started immediately after independence, the “Jeep scam” being the first scam. By 1985, according to Rajiv Gandhi, out of 100 government money, 85 paise was looted.
Then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi lost his position of authority after becoming involved in the Bofors trading scandal and other frauds, despite acknowledging this and declaring at the Congress session in Bombay that he would begin a campaign against power brokers. Prior to it, in 1971, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi solicited votes from the impoverished by promoting the catchphrase “eradicate poverty.” However, Sanjay Gandhi’s significant first job upon taking office in 1971 was the government-assisted creation of a Maruti factory. Chaudhary Charan Singh was frequently referred to or written as the “Jat leader.”
He was terribly uncomfortable. This was unfair as well. Ajay Singh was the only Jat Minister in his government. Moreover, he serves as a Minister of state. We can tally the representatives of his caste in other Prime Leaders’ Ministries. Nehru ji sent Kailashnath Katju from Allahabad via special jet to become the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh since no one else was deemed qualified for the position. At the airport, nobody was able to recognize Katju Saheb by face.
In 1990, Central government Ministries employed Class 1 officers from backward castes.
This list shows how many backward classes there are in top positions within Central Government departments. This number dates back to 1990. From 1950 until 1990, who served as Prime Minister in the Central Government? What action did Congress take to make this different?
Department / Total Class One Officer / Backward Caste
President’s Secretariat / 48 / 0
Prime Minister’s Office / 35 / 1
Ministry of Atomic Energy / 34 / 0
Civil Supplies /61 / 0
Communication /52/0
Health and welfare / 240 / 0
Ministry of Labor / 74 / 0
Parliamentary Affairs / 18 / 0
Petroleum-Chemical /121/0
Cabinet Secretariat / 20 / 1
Agriculture-Irrigation / 261 / 13
Defense Ministry/1379/9
Education-Social Welfare / 259 / 4
Energy /641/20
Ministry of External Affairs / 649 / 1
Ministry of Finance /1008/1
Ministry of Home Affairs / 409 / 13
Ministry of Industry / 169 / 3
Information and Broadcasting / 2506 / 124
Legislative Act / 112 / 2
Company Work / 247 / 6
Science Technology / 101 / 1
When the divisional reservation report was released, Congress was stunned.
The Mandal Reservation report was first received by the Central Government in 1980. This report was the subject of three in-depth parliamentary discussions between 1980 and 1990. The Congress government’s Home Minister has consistently stated that it will not be put into effect. Furthermore, following his elevation from Home Minister to President, R. Venkat Raman declined to commemorate Dr. Lohia’s oil painting in the Central Hall of Parliament when the request was made.
A question will arise, why the President refused. That is because Lohia had demanded that there should be a provision of 60% reservation for backward classes. However, Lohia also wanted 60% reservation for women of every caste and community. In response to this rejection, Madhulimaye penned a lengthy letter to Venkata Raman. The complete letter was printed in the Calcutta-based weekly journal “Sunday.”
With a mentality like that, which backward class will now trust a Congressman? The political parties that are currently operating under the pretext of “forward caste” or “backward caste” will eventually suffer the same fate as Congress. Currently, an alternative party has surfaced that aims to view everyone equally, regardless of their background—Hindu or Muslim, forward-thinking or backward. Who will believe Rahul Gandhi’s most recent pro-backward remarks in this context? And thus, the phony tears came too late! Thousands of people will get their minds cleansed on June 4.
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