Dalit community will launch 'Jute Maro Andolan' against Rahul over quota remark, says Athawale

Rahul Gandhi had told students in US that that the Congress would think of scrapping reservations when "India is a fair place", which he said is not the case currently.

Dharamshala/Shimla: The Dalit community and Republican Party of India would launch a nationwide -Jute Maro Andolan- against Rahul Gandhi for his remark on reservations, said Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Friday.

Recently, during an interaction with the students of Georgetown University in the United States, the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi told the students that the Congress would think of scrapping reservations when "India is a fair place", which he said is not the case currently.

Responding to a question regarding Gandhi's statement, Athawale, who is also the president of the Republican Party of India, said that no one can snatch the reservation of Dalits, OBC and Aadivasi and whoever attempts to do that would be dealt with.

"The Dalit community and Republican Party of India would launch a nationwide -Jute Maro andolan- against the leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi for his remark on reservation," he said and added that shoes should be thrown at Gandhi.

"Rahul Gandhi is a useless man. Whenever he goes to England or America, he talks against India", he said and advised Gandhi not to make wage statements.

He said, "How is it possible that there is no democracy in the country? How can Rahul Gandhi get 99 seats and become the leader of the opposition if there is no democracy in the country?"

"The people have given us a mandate and the NDA government is taking everyone ahead, he added.

Furthermore, in a post on X, Athawale said, "By talking about ending #आरक्षण @RahulGandhi has once again brought the anti-Dalit face of Congress @INCIndia in front of the country. Dalits, tribals and backward classes of the country will teach Rahul a lesson on his statement of ending reservation. The reservation given by the respected Babasaheb Ambedkar through the Constitution will never end."

Athawale was in Dharamshala to participate in the seminar organized by the World Cooperatives Economic Forum to discuss issues like connecting agriculture with cooperatives, the ongoing war scenario in context to Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Hamas and Pakistan's involvement in terrorist activities in India.