Recently, Rahul Gandhi made one more such remark regarding the representation of Dalit, tribal, or Other Backward Class (OBC) among ex-Miss India contestants, and this has triggered severe backlash against him by the BJP.
Further, during the ‘Samvidhan Samman Sammelan,’ Gandhi called for a caste survey across India and alleged that even after going through the list of winners of the Miss India contest, he could not find anyone from the so-called ‘backward castes.
Jolted by Gandhi’s announcement, BJP National Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari responded harshly, stating that Gandhi’s remark was dangerous and filled with deceit. However, Gandhi also threw a simple challenge within it: In the last year, no Dalit woman was crowned Miss Diva; at least two years ago, Riya Ekka was crowned Miss India Diva.
Another BJP leader, Amit Malviya, also entered into the controversy and asked a direct question to the Congress party whether anybody can find the face of a man belonging to the SC, ST, or OBC community in the photographs put up by the opposition party.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also had words for Rahul Gandhi after the murthakal:
“Now, he wants reservations in Miss India competitions, films, sports! It is not only an issue of ‘Bal Budhi’ (childish intelligence), but the people who cheer him are equally at fault!”
To this, Rahul Gandhi responded to the outrage by saying that his intention of speaking out was not to speak on behalf of Bollywood and the media but to voice the concerns of the 90% of the Indian population who are unheard of in these institutions. He wanted to emphasize that there remains a general lack of the average man, the man on the street—the cobblers and the plumbers—in the mainstream media.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha also agreed with the fact that the BJP may likely tag him as an anti-Bharat element and an agent of divisionism by calling for a caste census.
This latest controversy comes at a time when the political parties are busy hurling abuses at each other – the BJP blaming the Congress for playing the communal card and the Congress reciprocating with more accusations against the ruling party.
