Jaipur/Kota:

Accusing the Congress party of being against other backward classes, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that even if the Opposition wants to do away with reservations for castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs, the BJP will not allow this to happen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs to the OBC community, he said, adding that it was Modi who implemented schemes for small backward classes.

Mr Shah was addressing an election rally in support of Speaker Om Birla, the BJP candidate and the sitting member of the Kota Lok Sabha seat.

“Even if the Congress party wants to do away with SC, ST and OBC reservations… we will not allow it. This is Modi’s assurance,” he asserted.

Mr. Shah claimed that the Congress was a party against the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

“The Congress government has not implemented the Mandal Commission report. While discussing reservations in Parliament, Rahul BabaHis father Rajiv Gandhi opposed this for two-and-a-half hours,” he claimed.

Mr. Shah said Prime Minister Modi worked hard to get constitutional recognition to the backward committees.

“We strive to provide 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in all central institutions in the country. Respect for the country has increased across the world under the leadership of Modi, who also comes from the OBC community,” he said.

He said that before the Modi government, there were no schemes in the country for communities such as blacksmiths, tailors, carpenters and shipyards, but Prime Minister Modi spent Rs 13,000 crore to link them with skill development and self-employment schemes.

Urging people to vote for the BJP candidate, Mr Shah said, “Press the lotus symbol button on the EVM hard and let Italy feel the electric shock.” Earlier, Shah said at an election rally in Bhilwara , Rajasthan will hand over all 25 Lok Sabha seats to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the third time.

He also targeted former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, saying he was “caught in dilemma”.

“His son will lose the election by a huge margin,” the federal minister claimed, referring to Vaibhav Gehlot.

“The first phase of elections was held yesterday (Friday). All the 12 seats in Rajasthan polled in the first phase will go to Narendra Modi. Rajasthan will achieve a hat-trick of all 25 seats The seat was given to Narendra Modi to get time for the third phase of elections,” he said.

Mr Shah also lashed out at Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, claiming they vacationed abroad once every three months.

“Priyanka Gandhi is back from Thailand after taking leave during the election,” he added.

Shah said a vote for Prime Minister Modi means a vote for the creation of ‘Mahan Bharat’. “Prime Minister Modi has fulfilled all the promises he made over the past decade,” he added.

The Union Home Minister accused Congress leaders of not attending the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, claiming they were afraid of losing their vote bank.

“The public will never forgive those who did not visit Ram Lalla out of greed for votes,” he said.

Shah said that during the previous UP government, terrorists often infiltrated and carried out attacks. “After the Modi government was formed, terrorists launched another attack in Pulwama. They forgot that this was no longer a Congress government, but a BJP government, and Modi was the Prime Minister. In just 10 days, Modi passed Surgical operations and air strikes eliminated terrorists in Pakistan,” he added.

“There is peace in Kashmir and Northeast. Naxalite is coming to an end. Modi strives to make the country secure and make it prosperous. In 10 years, Modi strives to lift the economy from 11th to 5th. Let Modi Becoming the prime minister for the third time as a minister, India will become the third largest economy,” Shah said.

The Union minister also highlighted the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission as an achievement of the Modi government.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)