Back in Kolar, Rahul Gandhi says, ‘Centre should lift the 50% quota cap’

Indicating that OBCs were larger in number and their representation in government jobs was skewed, Gandhi also sought an answer from PM Modi on this. “Reservation for SC/STs should be proportional to their population. (The Union government) should lift 50% cap in reservation,” he added.

Continuing his salvo against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and businessman Gautam Adani, Gandhi said, “Adani was a symbol. A symbol of corruption” under the PM Modi-led government. The BJP government, he asserted, was trying to intimidate and silence him as they did not want questions on Adani in Parliament. “They are afraid of me. They think that by disqualifying me, they can threaten and make me fear them. I am not afraid of them.”

It was in Kolar Gold Fields that Gandhi made the contentious remark in which he sought to know “why all thieves had the Modi surname” while campaigning for former Union minister K H Muniyappa on April 13, 2019, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections that year. The statement led to a defamation case against him by BJP leader Purnesh Modi and on March 23 this year, a Surat court held Rahul Gandhi guilty and sentenced him to two years in jail, triggering his disqualification from Parliament. Gandhi has filed an appeal against the conviction.

On Sunday, Gandhi, however, underlined that he would continue to press the Union government for answers on Modi’s relationship with Adani. “Whose Rs 20,000 crore was in Adani shell companies? Until I get answers, I won’t stop. You can disqualify me or imprison me. It won’t make a difference,” he said.

Meanwhile, All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge criticised how the FIR in the defamation case was filed in Gujarat’s Surat though the controversial speech by Rahul Gandhi was delivered in Karnataka. He pointed out that Gandhi had asked questions regarding the sudden growth in Adani’s wealth “in public interest and to protect the public and private sector.”

Speaking about the race for the chief minister’s post among Karnataka Congress leaders ahead of elections in the state, Kharge added that it was not important who became the chief minister. The Congress has to look at winning 150 to 160 seats which, Kharge said, was not impossible. “Who becomes CM is immaterial to me. We have to ensure that the Congress assumes power in the state. Any leader selected by the high command and party MLAs can become CM,” he said.

Recently, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar said that he would not mind working under Kharge if he was made the chief minister.