People at times play 'caste card' to get poll ticket: Nitin Gadkari
Nagpur, Sep 17: Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said sometimes when people fail to get tickets to contest polls on the basis of their work, they play the "caste card".
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi "for never invoking his caste", he cited examples of a number of prominent politicians who rose above the caste and religious identity to carve out a niche for themselves.
"When people fail to get (poll) ticket on the basis of their work (krututva), they play caste card," the former BJP president said addressing a gathering here on Monday at the 'Akhil Bhartiya Mali Samaj Mahaadiveshan', organised by the Mahatma Phule Shikshan Sanstha.
"I want to ask - did George Fernandes (former Union minister and socialist stalwart) belong to any caste? He did not belong to any caste...he was a Christian. Did Indira Gandhi come to power because of caste?" he said.
Did Ashok Gehlot belong to your caste? But he became the chief minister of Rajasthan when people from other caste groups helped him, he pointed out.
"People told me that women should get reservation, 'I said yes they should get reservation'. But, I immediately asked them, did Indira Gandhi get reservation? For several years she ruled the country and became popular," he said.
Similarly, did Vasundhara Raje and Sushma Swaraj (BJP leaders) get reservation? the minister said to support his argument that caste was not instrumental in the success of these politicians.
"In politics those who do good work, don't have to ask for votes as the votes come to them naturally," he said.
"Prime Minister Modi never talks about his caste. I really appreciate Modiji. Aaj tak Narendra Modiji ne kabhi nahi kahaa main backward community se hun (PM Modi has never said he belongs to a backward community)," Gadkari said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
