Patna, May 7 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said the Congress is the "biggest opponent" of reservation for the backward caste community.

"Today, if there is any opponent of the backward community, it is Congress; and Lalu Prasad Yadav is sitting in the lap of that party. The Kaka Kalelkar Commission was the first to prepare a report recommending the reservation for the backward caste people but Congress never implemented that. Then, the Mandal Commission came but it was also put on the back-burner by the Congress. When the Mandal Commission was approved, Rahul Gandhi's father Rajiv Gandhi opposed it the most," Home Minister Shah said addressing a rally in Bihar's Ujiarpur on Monday.

"Many years passed and no one did anything for the backward and extremely backward classes in the country. After the formation of the Narendra Modi government, the Backward-Extremely Backward Commission was constituted," he added.

"The Narendra Modi government had given 27 per cent reservation in AIIMS for doctors of backward and extremely backward communities. Congress robbed the reservation of the backward class. When the Congress government was formed in Karnataka, they gave 5 per cent OBC reservation to the entire Muslim community overnight. 4 per cent reservation was also given to Andhra Pradesh," the Home Minister said, adding that the BJP "end it immediately if comes to power in the two states".

Home Minister Shah said that Lalu Prasad Yadav, who roams around "pretending to be a well-wisher of the backward community", should respond to these issues.

The Home Minister hailed the government's move to confer socialist icon Karpoori Thakur with the Bharat Ratna. "He (Karpoori Thakur) did a lot of work for the poor. On his demand, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had included the Maithili language in the Eighth Schedule," Home Minister Shah said.

The Home Minister also targeted the INDIA bloc over the recovery of "unaccounted cash" from the residences of leaders of its constituent parties. "Today, Rs 30 crore was found in the house of a Jharkhand minister. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (ruling party) is a partner of the INDI Alliance. Two months ago, Rs 350 crore was found from a Congress MP. Before that, Rs 51 crore was found from the house of Mamata Banerjee's minister. These people have taken away the money of the poor and Narendra Modi will bring it back," he said.

Home Minister Shah also appreciated the works of MoS Home and BJP's Ujiarpur candidate Nityanand Rai. "I have come here to Ujiarpur which is 1500 km away from Delhi, only for Nityanand Rai. He is my dearest friend and a minister in Narendra Modi's cabinet. He has always worked very well. During the pandemic period, when I was sick, Nityanand Rai was sitting in the control room from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had brought vaccine and oxygen concentrator and Nityanand Rai was given the responsibility to distribute it across the country," he said.

/IANS