You are cutting thumbs of small businesses, youth: Rahul to govt

Accuses BJP of having anti-farmer policies, favouring Adani

- ASAD REHMAN

PARTICIPATING IN THE special debate on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi reiterated the Congress's promise to hold a caste census and work towards removing the 50% cap on reservation, but added another layer to his social justice pitch.

In his speech on the second day of the debate, Gandhi questioned the BJP over Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar's support for the Manusmriti "over the Constitution", and invoked Eklavya, the noted archer from the Mahabharata, to make his case for deprived youngsters kept out of the system. "In front of us stand people who follow a very different philosophical tradition. And I want to start my speech by quoting what the supreme leader not of the BJP, but of the modern interpretation of the ideas of the RSS - has to say about the Constitution of India. And about how he thinks India should be run," Gandhi said.

He went on to quote Savarkar: "The worst thing about the Constitution of India is that there is nothing Indian about it. Manusmriti is that scripture which is most worshipable after Vedas for our Hindu nation and which, from our ancient times, has become the basis of our culture, thought and practice."