Will give Rs 11 lakh to anyone chopping Rahul’s tongue: Shiv Sena MLA
Mumbai (PTI): In a controversial statement, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad has announced that he will give Rs 11 lakh to anyone chopping off Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s tongue for his remarks on scrapping the reservation system.
Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekar Bawankule said he does not support the MLA’s remarks. BJP is a constituent of the Shiv Sena-led government in the state.
“While he was abroad, Rahul Gandhi said that he wants to finish off the reservation system in India. This has exposed the true face of the Congress,” Gaikwad told reporters, before announcing the bizarre reward.
"During his recent US visit, Rahul Gandhi talked about ending reservations. It shows the mindset that is inherently opposed to reservations. I will reward anyone who cuts off Rahul Gandhi's tongue with Rs 11 lakh,” Gaikwad said. The Congress had defeated Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in elections, he added.
"Gandhi's comments are the biggest treachery of the people. Communities like Marathas, Dhangars and OBCs are fighting for reservation but before that, Gandhi is talking about ending its benefits," the MLA said.
"Rahul Gandhi used to show the Constitution book and spread fake narrative that the BJP would change it. But it is the Congress that plans to take the country back by 400 years,” he said.
Bawankule distanced the BJP from Gaikwad's comments. "I will not support or endorse Gaikwad's comments. However, we cannot forget that the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had opposed reservations saying it would affect the progress.
“Rajiv Gandhi had said giving reservations means supporting idiots. Now Rahul Gandhi says he would end reservations,” the BJP leader said.
"We will sensitise the SCs, STs and OBCs and inform them about the comments of Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Even Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange should think about it," he said.
Atul Londhe, spokesperson of Maharashtra Congress said, "Sanjay Gaikwad does not deserve to live in society and politics. We want to see whether Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis invokes charges of culpable homicide against Gaikwad."
Congress MLC Bhai Jagtap said, "I condemn such people and comments. These people have spoiled the politics of the state.
Gaikwad, an MLA from Buldhana assembly seat in Vidarbha region, is no stranger to controversies. Last month, a video of a policeman washing the Shiv Sena MLA’s car had gone viral on social media. Gaikwad had later explained that the policeman cleaned the vehicle voluntarily after vomiting inside it.
In February, Gaikwad had claimed that he had hunted a tiger in 1987 and has been wearing its tooth around his neck.
Soon after, the state Forest department sent the purported tiger tooth for forensic identification and charged Gaikwad under the Wildlife Protection Act.
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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.
