Signalling a fresh confrontation, Rahul Gandhi today mounted a fresh attack on the government over making educational qualifications mandatory for contesting Panchayat polls in BJP-ruled Haryana and Rajasthan, accusing BJP and RSS of taking away the right from the poor, dalits and adivasis.
"Proud that opposition came together against BJP's attempt to exclude more than 50% of India's electorate from the right to contest elections," Rahul said on Twitter.
The Congress Vice President said, "By making edu qualifications mandatory for contesting Panchayat polls, BJP & RSS want to take this right away from the poor, dalits & adivasis".
His reaction came close on the heels of government facing an embarrassment in the Rajya Sabha, which passed the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address only after an amendment moved by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad was included following a division in which 94 voted for the amendment and 61 against.
The amendment regretted that the address did not commit support to rights of all citizens to contest Panchayat elections in the backdrop of a law in Rajasthan and Haryana that made matriculation certificate a criteria for contesting the polls.
"The right to contest elections is a basic right of every citizen of India. Our founding fathers fought against the British for this right.
"They want to take this right away from all those who have been denied access, exploited & suppressed," Rahul said in a series of tweets.
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The press conference was also attended by representatives of jewellery associations, who said that as an alternative to the excise duty, they were ready if the government hikes the customs duty by 1-2 per cent.
"As an alternative we will not mind if the government increases the customs duty by 1-2 per cent, but levying excise duty would open floodgates of harassment that we would face in a new era of inspector raj," Mumbai Jewellers Association Vice-President Kumar Jain said.
The gems and jewellery industry, which mostly consists of people who are not very educated, will have to appoint people to deal with the cumbersome process of filing and maintaining records needed for filing excise duty, he added.
