New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday accused the Congress of spreading “lies” on the issue of OBC representation and alleged that the party had historically opposed reservation for marginalized communities. “The Congress party has become bankrupt – its leader, his policies and his rhetoric,” Pradhan, while combating Rahul Gandhi’s claim, said that the Modi government has ignored the OBC. Principal, citing data from central universities, argued that the NDA government has strengthened the inclusion of higher education by increasing the sanctioned posts from 16,217 in 2014 and reduced the vacancies by 37% to 25.8% by 18,951 in 2025 and by 37% to 25.8%. More than 8,150 SC, ST, and OBC faculty members have been appointed in recent years, said that the Congress had failed to take action on this front during its tenure.Killing Congress leaders in generations, Pradhan said: “From Nehru to Indira Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi, Congress has opposed reservation. Rajiv Gandhi opposed the Mandal Commission on 11 points, and Nehru also wrote to the Chief Ministers against reservation.”The senior BJP leader also accused the Congress of misuse of “not found suitable” to block reserved category appointments. “I challenge Rahul Gandhi for a debate inside or outside the Parliament. Let them tell them how many reserved posts were converted under ‘NFS’ during the Congress rule and how many were after 2019,” Pradhan said.Referring to the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teacher’s Cadre) Act, 2019, Pradhan said that for the first time, a law ensured reservation for SC, ST and OBC in all faculty posts. “This is not tokenism. It is justice in action,” he said.Calling the Congress “anti-OBC and anti-social justice”, Pradhan said that its criticism has been inconvenienced on an OBC leading in the country for the last 11 years.
