Congress against quota to Dalits, backwards; attacked Constitution by amending Preamble: BJP

New Delhi: The Congress has been against providing reservation to the Dalits and the backwards and the party also "attacked" the Constitution by inserting the word 'secular' in the Preamble when it was in power, the BJP alleged on Friday.

The BJP’s charge comes at a time when the Congress has been claiming that the saffron party is seeking more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls to change the Constitution and also end the reservations provided to the members of the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) if voted to power.

Slamming the Congress at a press conference in the BJP headquarters here, party national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam said, "They are repeatedly saying the Constitution will be changed. Ambedkar used to say that the preamble of the Constitution is its soul. But they added a word 'secular' in it, which was the biggest attack on the Constitution."

Asked if the Preamble will be restored to its original form if the BJP is voted to power again, he said, "This? Yes. The word 'secular' should not have been inserted in it (Preamble). This hurt the soul of B R Ambedkar."

Gautam alleged that the Congress has been against providing reservation to the "Dalits and the backwards" since its "birth" and brought the provision of creamy layer during its rule to "end reservation".

"In a letter to all chief ministers on June 27, 1961, Jawaharlal Nehru (then Prime Minister) had clearly stated that he dislikes any kind of reservation, especially in services. The Congress and its leaders did not show any regard for the Constitution as it provided nothing in the name of reservation at Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia (Millia) Islamia," the BJP leader charged.

Asked if the BJP will provide quota for the Dalits and the backwards at AMU and Jamia Millia Islamia if voted to power, Gautam said, "For this, we will prepare a draft and make all efforts. They should get reservation. We have fought for the Dalits earlier also."

Gautam alleged that the Congress denied reservation to the Dalits and the members of the backward classes in Jammu and Kashmir (J-K) by giving special status to the erstwhile state under Article 370.

The Narendra Modi government, on August 5, 2019, abrogated Article 370, thus, ending the special status given to J-K, and bifurcated it into two Union Territories — J-K and Ladakh.