The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) on Saturday staged a protest in Pune against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on reservation during his visit to the United States. The protest was held outside advocate Asim Sarode's residence near Goodluck Chowk.
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Recently, Gandhi told students of Georgetown University that the Congress would think of scrapping reservations when "India is a fair place", which he said is not the case right now. Later, he issued a clarification, saying his comments were "misinterpreted".
Speaking to The Free Press Journal, advocate Arvind Tayade, VBA Pune City chief, said, "We are forced to protest here after the unforgivable statement given four days earlier by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. We staged a protest outside Asim Sarode's residence because he and journalist Nikhil Wagle played the role of 'paying guest' in the Lok Sabha Election 2024 for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Now, Sarode and Wagle should condemn Gandhi's statement publicly."
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Shubham Chauhan, Vanchit Bahujan Yuva Aghadi, Pune City General Secretary, added, "In order to protect our Constitution, many people voted for MVA across the country. Now, Sarode and his team should write a letter to Gandhi and ask him to apologise regarding this statement."
Dada Salve, coordinator of VBA Pune City, expressed, "There are a large number of voters who are affected by the reservation. Such kinds of statements hurt the voters' sentiments. It is a kind of cheating, making false promises that reservation will not end."
Earlier on Friday, BJP held state-wide protests against Gandhi over his remarks on reservation.
In Mumbai, BJP city president Ashish Shelar, the party's OBC face MLC Pankaja Munde, and several MLAs staged a demonstration. Munde, during the protest, said reservation cannot be done away with until casteism disappears from the minds of the MVA. She further alleged that the MVA was responsible for Marathas losing their reservation in the Supreme Court, but they had instead targeted the BJP for it. "Power has always been with his (Gandhi's) family and party. There can be nothing more seditious than insulting one's country abroad," the BJP leader said. Shelar sought to know the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP)'s stand on remarks made by Gandhi.
The BJP's Dahisar MLA Manisha Chowdhary claimed the Congress has been opposing reservations from the days of late Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi's "anti-reservation" stand is exposed, she said.
In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra Housing Minister Atul Save staged a demonstration with party workers, carrying placards and raising slogans against Gandhi.
Meanwhile, slamming the BJP for staging protests, Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat accused the party of spreading fake news and doing "nautanki" (drama). He pointed out that Gandhi, in his remarks, never said reservations would be done away with. "What are BJP leaders protesting for? They don't even feel the need to verify information. But people will not be swayed by their fake narrative. People know that it is the BJP that is anti-Constitution and anti-reservation," Thorat wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
