Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday accused Congress of sitting on the report of the Mandal Commission and said that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was against the implementation of the recommendations laid by the backward panel.
“Congress kept sitting on the report of Mandal Commission and suppressed it. Rajiv Gandhi was against the implementation of its report. For 70 years Backward Commission was not a constitutional body and it was the Modi government that made it a constitutional body. We have 27 ministers at the Centre who are from the OBC community,” Shah said while addressing an election rally in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh’s Chanderi.
Saying that the BJP is consistently working for the rapid development of the OBCs, Shah said,” Reservations for the backward community have been put in place effectively by the Modi government at Sainik schools, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodya schools.”
Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai had announced the constitution of a second Backward Classes Commission under chairman BP Mandal in 1978. The Commission submitted its report in 1980. Later in the year 1990, former Prime Minister VP Singh announced the implementation of the recommendations of the Mandal Commission.
