“Only 810 villages out of over five lakh villages were surveyed as a sample. Now this could have been valid if he were to check the validity of a report. To do such a small sampling check is a valid step when you are checking the validity of a report. But is it a valid step on which to base a complete report like this?"  

That was Rajeev Gandhi presenting his views to oppose the Mandal Commission in 1990. Almost three decades later, his son Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP government at the Centre of being anti-Dalit. In a rally on Thursday at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, where Dalit groups had gathered to agitate against the supposed dilution of the SC/ST Act, Rahul raised his pitch, sitting next to CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

This despite most Dalit organisations withdrawing their Bharat bandh call scheduled for Thursday. “Our major demand regarding the restoration of the SC/ST Act has been fulfilled”, read a statement issued by All India Ambedkar Mahasabha (AIAM).

So BJP president Amit Shah decided to show the mirror to Rahul on Congress’s stand when it comes to Dalit empowerment.

 

 

But he didn’t stop here. He took a deep dive in history and reminded Rahul about Congress’s treatment of Dalit icon Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Babu Jagjivan Ram and Sitaram Kesri.

 


And then came a straight finger-pointing at Rahul and his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

 

 

But it was the fourth tweet that would have hit Rahul hard, reminding the famous speech of Rajeev at the Lok Sabha on September 6, 1990 when the Mandal report was a raging topic and the senior Congress leader was making a strong pitch against it. Rajeev in fact asked from the floor of the house, “We are talking about data which is a hundred years old or sixty years old? Is that valid today?”
 

 

 

So when Rahul took a 360 degree turn today on Dalit empowerment, this tweet was Shah’s way of getting back at him.

 

 

And finally, Shah attached a press release of the press information bureau (PIB) from January 26, 2016 which talked about stringent provisions that were added to the Prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. A total of seven changes or amendments were cited in the release that Shah posted in his last and final tweet, while reminding how the Congress tried to block the Bill that would have given constitutional backing to the OBC Commission.

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Politics is an art of challenging the rival. But when it’s done based on irrefutable historical facts and through simple tweets, it leaves a far deep impact. Shah just did that today to his Congress counterpart Rahul Gandhi.