'Will remove 50 pct cap on caste reservation, increase quota for Dalits, tribals': Rahul Gandhi's poll pitch in MP

Addressing a poll rally at Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi said this election is being fought to save the Constitution.

"BJP and RSS want to finish this, change this. And the Congress and INDIA bloc are trying to save this. This Constitution has given you rights on jal (water), jangal (forest), zameen (land). Narendra Modi wants to remove them, he wants full power," he said, holding a copy of the Constitution.

He warned people that the BJP leaders had declared to change the Constitution if they won again.

"That's why they gave the '400 seats' slogan. But forget 400, they are not getting 150 seats. They say they will remove reservations. I want to tell you from this stage, we will increase reservation beyond the 50 per cent cap. We will give as much reservation as needed for the poor, the backwards, Dalits and adivasis," he said.

Gandhi's remarks come amid a high-pitched campaign for the Lok Sabha polls and heated exchanges between the NDA and the INDIA bloc on the reservation issue.

The BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has alleged that the Congress plans to interfere with the reservation for backward classes to benefit Muslims.

The Congress has denied the allegations. At a rally in Gujarat Banaskantha, the Prime Minister said, "I challenge the 'shehzada' of the Congress as well as his party and its supporters to announce they will never misuse reservation in the name of religion, nor will they play with the Constitution or grant reservation in the name of religion."

At the Ratlam rally, Gandhi said the media does not show news related to atrocities on Adivasis.

"Your children are raped, your land is snatched, but media does not report. There is a reason. There are no Adivasis in these media companies," he said.

The Congress leader said 90 bureaucrats run the country's government.

"They distribute the budgets. Only 1 out of the 90 is an Adivasis, three are from backward classes, three from the Dalit community. Your people are neither in the media nor the corporate world. We want to change this. This is why we have decided to carry out a caste Census and an economic survey," he said.

Ratlam votes on May 13 in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election. The Congress has fielded former MP and former Union Minister Kantilal Bhuria. Anita Nagar Singh Chauhan is the BJP's pick from the seat they won in the 2019 election.