'Not found suitable' is new Manuvaad, will fight anti-reservation moves of BJP-RSS: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that eligible candidates from SC, ST, and OBC communities were being deliberately declared 'not found suitable' to keep them away from education and leadership.
Gandhi made the remark in a post on X, sharing a video of his recent interaction with students of the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU)."
"'Not Found Suitable' is the new Manuvaad now. Eligible candidates from SC/ST/OBC are being deliberately declared 'unsuitable' so that they are kept away from education and leadership," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said in his post in Hindi.
'Manuvaad' is the ethos of a society governed by Manusmriti.
Gandhi quoted B R Ambedkar to hail education as the biggest weapon for equality, and accused the Narendra Modi-led Union government and the RSS of subverting this power.
"... the Modi government is busy blunting that weapon," he said.
Gandhi said that more than 60 per cent of the reserved posts of Professor and more than 30 per cent of the reserved posts of Associate Professor have been kept vacant by using the 'Not Found Suitable (NFS)' mechanism.
"This is no exception – the same conspiracy is going on everywhere, IITs, Central Universities. NFS is an attack on the Constitution. NFS is a betrayal of social justice," he said.
The former Congress president said getting reservation was a matter of fighting for rights, respect, and participation.
"I spoke to the students of DUSU, now we all together will answer every anti-reservation move of BJP/RSS with the power of the Constitution," he said.
In the video, Gandhi is heard telling the students that the Hindutva project's foundation is to erase the history of the SCs, STs, and OBCs.
"Why is 90 per cent's history not in our books? Why is only 10 per cent's history in our books? Why is it not written, for example, in our history books that for 3,000 years, Dalits have been treated like dirt, have not been respected, have not been given any space in our society?" he says during the interaction.
On May 22, the DU objected to Gandhi's unannounced visit to its North Campus, calling it a breach of institutional protocol and a disruption of student governance operations.
"Shri Rahul Gandhi has done this for the second time... coming to the university without any intimation and information to University of Delhi," the proctor's office had said in an official release.
That day, Gandhi interacted with students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes on the North Campus.
The session was held at the office of the DUSU president, who belongs to NSUI, a Congress-affiliated outfit.
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link now fully operational
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link was opened to vehicular traffic on Saturday noon after a delay caused by the dismantling of inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work, a day after the Pune section became operational.
The 13.3 km-long "missing link", which bypasses a section of the Bhor Ghat stretch of the expressway and cuts travel time between Mumbai and Pune by 25 to 30 minutes, was inaugurated a day earlier by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar.
The Pune-bound carriageway of the corridor was opened to traffic immediately; however, the Mumbai-bound section remained closed to traffic for several hours after the inauguration.
An official of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation told PTI on Saturday that the opening of the Mumbai-bound carriageway was delayed mainly due to the dismantling of the inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work.
The removal of the stage and other decorations was completed in the morning. The work to load and transport the material slightly delayed the opening of the carriageway.
Vehicular movement on the carriageway began after all the remaining material was cleared and road cleaning was completed, the official added.
The expressway control room said that despite significant vehicular movement, the access-controlled highway has not witnessed any major traffic snarls since Friday evening, after the Pune-bound carriageway of the missing link was opened to traffic.
The Missing Link project connects Khopoli (in Raigad) on the Mumbai side to Kusgaon near Lonavala in Pune district and is expected to make the expressway fully access-controlled, easing congestion in the ghat section.
Developed by the MSRDC and dubbed an "engineering marvel", the project includes two tunnels, two viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley. It bypasses the steep, accident-prone ghat section, where frequent traffic snarls are reported during weekends and on public holidays.
