Rahul Gandhi in Jharkhand: ‘Will hike SC ST OBC reservation’; ‘90% people should run this country’ | Top 5 quotes

Leader of the Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday that the INDIA bloc "will raise reservation cap above 50 percent if voted to power. While speaking at the Congress' rally in Jharkhand's Simdega, Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting violence-hit Manipur and waiving off loans of corporates worth ₹16 lakh crore.

Here are top quotes from Rahul Gandhi's speech at Jharkhand rally:

1. Rahul Gandhi listed out INDIA bloc's seven guarantees to the people of Jharkhand ahead of the assembly election in the state.  INDIA bloc members, Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morch (JMM), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and CPI-M are part of the INDIA bloc.

"The Constitution is under constant attack and it needs to be protected. We will remove the cap of 50 percent reservation at any cost. If we are voted to power in Jharkhand, we will raise reservation of STs to 28 per cent from the present 26 per cent, SCs to 12 per cent from the current 10 per cent and OBCs to 27 per cent from the existing 14 per cent," Gandhi said.

The other promises of the Congress and INDIA bloc partners in Jharkhand are:

> Gas cylinder for ₹450

> 7 kg ration for every person

> Domicile Policy based on the Khatiyan of 1932

> Sarna Dharma Code will be implemented

> Honorarium of ₹2,500 to women

> 28% reservation for ST, 12% for SC and 27% for OBC

> 10 lakh jobs

> Health insurance up to ₹15 lakh

> Degree colleges will be built in all blocks

> MSP of paddy will be increased to ₹3,200; MSP of other agricultural products will be increased by 50%

2. "Manipur has been burning for so many days, but the Prime Minister has not gone there till date… .the violence spread in Maniour due to his own ideology. That is why we did the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in which the slogan was - 'Nafrat ki bazaar ki muhobbat ki dukaan kholenge'," Gandhi said.

3. Rahul Gandhi said, “I want that if this country is run, then 90 percent people should run this country and the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] wants that the country should be run by two-three people - PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Ambani and Adani - and the entire country's wealth, whether it is your land, forest - everything would be snatched from you and given away to these 10-15 big billionaires.”

4. Further attacking PM Modi, Gandhi said PM Narendra Modi waived off the loans of ₹16 lakh crore of 25 people but accused the Congress of "spoiling" the habits of farmers when it waived off their loan.

"You will not find a single tribal, a Dalit or a backward-class person among them "When we say that the farmers' loans should be waived off, then they say, look, Rahul Gandhi is spoiling the habits of farmers. When you waived off their loans, did you not spoil their habits?...," Gandhi said.

5. "The Indian government is run by 90 officers. These officers make decisions regarding the entire budget of the country. If one of these officers is from the tribal community, then out of ₹100 spent by the government, that tribal officer takes a decision worth 10 paise," Gandhi said.

The Jharkhand Assembly elections will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, with vote counting scheduled for November 23. In the 2020 Assembly election in Jharkhand, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won 30 seats, BJP won 25 seats and Congress won 16. In 2014, BJP won 37 seats, JMM won 19 seats and Congress only won 6 seats.