AHMEDABAD: Trying to strengthen the BJP’s OBC vote bank ahead of the Gujarat Assembly election, Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday reiterated that the Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave constitutional recognition to the backward classes commission, which the Congress “failed” to do during its 70 years of rule.
Attending a function in Godhra, Shah said the grand old party ruled the country for 70 years but “did nothing for the OBCs”. “The National Commission on Backward Classes (NCBC) has been given constitutional recognition by the Narendra Modi government. We have given reservation to OBCs in the central medical quota and included 27 ministers from the OBC community in the Cabinet to promote backward classes,” the senior BJP leader further said.
Shah, who also holds the cooperative portfolio at the Centre, alleged that previous Congress governments failed to create an environment conducive for the sector. He further said the Centre has come up with a plan to computerise all cooperatives and connect them directly to NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development), for which Rs 6500 crore has been provisioned. Shah was addressing a large gathering of milk producers in Panchmahal district after remotely inaugurating two plants set up by the Godhra-based Panchamrut Dairy.
Listing out the steps taken by the Modi government for the cooperative sector, Shah said the cooperative ministry was formed to give priority to the sector. “PM Modi increased the budget for cooperatives seven times, removed some taxes in the sugar sector, reduced the MAT (minimum alternate tax) to 15 from 18 per cent, and surcharge to 7 from 12 per cent on cooperative organisations,” he further said.
Shah also inaugurated several projects related to the state police department. Launching a broadside on the Congress, Shah alleged that Congress worked to create communal riots in the state.