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New Delhi: Rajendra Pal Gautam, the chairperson of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) Scheduled Castes department. said on Wednesday that party president Mallikarjun Kharge can become the Prime Minister.
He said if the INDIA bloc manages to bag the majority in the Lok Sabha elections in 2029, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, would sacrifice the top post. That would enable Kharge to become the PM of the country.
While speaking with The New Indian Express, Gautam said, "There is every possibility of Kharge becoming the PM, which is why we are strengthening the SC department. Rahul is a pure-hearted person, and like his family members who sacrificed (PM post), he too would sacrifice, as his mission is to provide social justice. Even in Karnataka, a Dalit would become the CM if the time comes."
Gautam urged the Centre and the Congress governments in states to bring about reservations in education and employment in the private sector. He reportedly said, “After the BJP came to power, the Centre has outsourced Group-4 jobs and cut down 50% of Group 1, 2, and 3 jobs, of which 50% are outsourced, putting an end to job security. I have written to the CMs of all Congress-ruled states and will meet Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah in this regard."
He added that in 2006, the then UPA government executed the Indian Constitution's 93rd amendment, enabling the state governments to mandate reservation in private higher education institutions. He blamed the Narendra Modi government for not implementing it despite the Supreme Court calling it legal in 2014. Gautam, a two-time AAP MLA from Delhi who recently jumped to Congress, also defended the Karnataka government's decision to implement internal quota in the state.
