MUMBAI: A day before Bihar goes in for the first phase of Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made it clear that his government had no intention to scrap the reservation for the backward communities. He evoked sentiments attached with Dr B R Ambedkar to underpin that “all the major decisions pertaining to preserving memories of the architect of the Constitution were taken by the BJP Governments”.
On a day’s visit to the city, Modi laid the foundation of Dr Ambedkar’s memorial on the premises of India United Mills in Dadar. He also performed ‘bhoomi poojan’ of fourth terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Metro Link between Dahiar and Andheri. Modi called the Opposition a “lies-spreading gang” when he referred to the issue of reservation. “This gang says the BJP will eliminate reservation. I want to tell them the BJP is in the power in the states where the SC, ST, OBC and Tribals are a majority. They have shown trust in us. It is a proof that the exploited class accepted us. No one can make progress without taking the backwards along with them. The ill-campaign should be stopped,” he said.
Modi referred to five projects related to Dr Ambedkar as ‘panch teerth’. He recalled the Dalit icon’s memorial at his birthplace Mhow in MP was built when the BJP came to power in the State. He pointed out that Ambedkar’s portrait was installed in Parliament only when there was a government with the BJP support. Meanwhile, Shiva Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray stayed away from Modi’s events.