Pune: In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi on October 5, 2024, said that there was no use of bowing before Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj after scaring people and destroying the Constitution and institutions in the country. Shri Rahul Gandhi also reiterated the Congress Party’s promise to remove the 50% cap on reservation if voted to power, while also alleging that the history of Dalits and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) was not being taught in schools any more.

Speaking at the ‘Samvidhan Samman Sammelan’ in Kolhapur District, Shri Rahul Gandhi held up a copy of the Constitution, calling it a symbol of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s ideas. “There are two ideologies in the country: one which protects the Constitution that talks of equality and unity. That is Shivaji Maharaj’s ideology. The second ideology is the one that is into destroying the Constitution,” he said.

He added, “They get up in the morning and plan how to destroy the Constitution, which is based on the ideals of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. They attack the institutions of the country, scare and threaten people and then bow before Shivaji’s statue. There is no use of it. If you pray before Shivaji’s statue, then you have to protect the Constitution. “They built Shivaji Maharaj’s statue and, in a few days, it collapsed,” said Shri Gandhi. Their intentions were not right. If you built Shivaji Maharaj’s statue, then you have to follow his ideals. Which is why the statue collapsed because their ideology is wrong.”

India’s Constitution is a manifestation of what the warrior king stood for, he said. If people like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Shahuji Maharaj were not there, the Constitution also would not have been there, he added.

On reservation, Shri Rahul Gandhi firmly said - removing the existing 50% cap is necessary to protect the Constitution. He asserted that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will ensure the passage of laws to this effect in Parliament.

“We will make sure the 50% cap on reservation is lifted in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and nothing can stop it. This step is essential for protecting the Constitution,” Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi said.

Speaking at the ‘Samvidhan Samman Sammelan’ here, Shri Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress and the INDIA bloc, a coalition of over two dozen opposition parties, will also bring out laws to enable a caste-based census.

He elaborated on the need for a Caste Census, highlighting two key aspects: identifying the population of each community and examining their control over the nation’s financial system. He argued that such a census would provide crucial data on the composition of India’s different communities.

He said - 90% of India’s population is being denied opportunities. He claimed that the country’s budget is shaped by a small group of 90 top IAS officers, with only three belonging to the OBC community, despite OBCs making up at least 50% of the population. “Similarly, Dalits and Adivasis, who constitute 15% and 8% of the population respectively, have only three and one officers from their communities among the top decision-makers,” he added.

At the function, Shri Rahul Gandhi also said that the history of Dalits and OBCs was not being taught in schools, alleging that efforts were being made to erase that history. “I am sharing my own experience. May be your experience could be different. I haven’t learnt that much about the history of the Dalits or backward classes in school. Now, even the limited history that is being taught is being erased,” he said.

He said that the Caste Census is like getting an X-ray done to identify anomalies but the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are opposed to it as they don’t want the “truth” to come out.

“The history of those considered skilled workforces, such as barbers, cobblers, and factory workers, is not there in our education system. There is nothing being told about these classes right from the struggle and the discrimination they face,” he added.

This is Gandhi’s second visit to western Maharashtra in a month, ahead of the assembly elections in November. He had visited Sangli last month to unveil the statue of late Congress leader Patangrao Kadam.

Unveiled a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

Earlier, speaking at an event here, where he unveiled a statue of Shivaji, Shri Rahul Gandhi alleged that the warrior king’s statue collapsed in the state’s Sindhudurg district as the intentions and ideology of those in power were wrong.

“This is the same ideology that Shivaji Maharaj fought with. Congress is fighting with the same ideology that Shivaji Maharaj fought with,” Shri Rahul Gandhi added. Chhatrapati Shivaji’s message to the world was that the country belongs to everyone. The Constitution is a symbol of his ideals, he said.

“If people like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and social reformer Shahu Maharaj were not there, the Constitution also would not have existed,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Shri Rahul Gandhi unveiled a tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Bhagwa Chowk during his brief visit to the erstwhile royal kingdom of Kolhapur on October 5, 2024.

He inaugurated Chhatrapati’s grand, full-length statue at Kasba Bawada and later paid his respects at the samadhi of the late social reformer Chhatrapati Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj (1874-1922). The new statue of Chhatrapati that loom over the Kolhapur skyline has been sculpted by Kolhapur artist, Sachin Gharge. It is made of bronze, weighs around two tonnes, is 12 feet tall and will stand on a nine-feet high pedestal, visible from considerable distances. The statue was constructed after a careful study of 16 contemporary oil paintings of the Chhatrapati, which have features like jiga, kalgitura, shirobhushan mandil, etc. The statue had a dagger with a shell-plate around the waist and a shield on the back, a ‘patta’ and a sword in the left hand and exquisitely carved mounts at the feet.

The entrance to the venue that will have the statue has attempted to replicate the one at the Nagarkhana at the Raigad Fort, with crafting and carvings on the stone arches, and a fortification wall on both sides.

Later Shri Rahul Gandhi also interacted with Ajit Sandhe, a tempo driver.