RAMABAI NAGAR (UP): Rahul Gandhi said the country’s telecom revolution ushered in by his father Rajiv Gandhi was authored by a “vishwakarma” , Sam Pitroda , introducing the technocrat as a poster boy of “most backward castes” (MBCs) and giving a final thrust to Congress’s social engineering plank for Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

In a short speech at a packed MBC rally, Rahul played the ‘pride card’ for sections struggling to find a place in the OBC monolithic that Congress thinks can help it slay backward champions Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav. Rahul said the cellphones in their hands were powered by a policy promoted by Rajiv Gandhi , but authored by a man (Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda), who is a “vishwakarma” by caste.

“Badaihainwoh... You can change the world but have been ignored and so you are backward,” he said, stunning observers by his use of mascot and idiom in backward politics.

The burgeoning post-Mandal politics became more a work of mythology with BSP founder Kanshi Ram weaving an intricate network with most backward groups, weaning them away from mainstream parties by evoking pride through use of social reformers like Jyotiba Phule and Shahuji Maharaj.

While no pantheon of MBCs was created, these groups backed BSP because they related more to poor dalits than strong backwards like Yadavs and Kurmis.

The BSP tightened its grip on them by giving them political representation.

But Congress sees MBCs as amenable to its signals in anti-Mayawati environment. The party has increased nomination to MBCs for coming polls, while the Centre has played the ‘subquota’ card to woo them.

The promise of as separate quota within 27% OBC quantum caters to a deepseated gripe that Mandal fruits have been monopolized by ‘forwards among backwards’ like Yadavs. Law minister Salman Khurshid promised that MBC sub-quota would match their share in OBC population. If the amplified message in coming weeks pits MBCs against BCs, Congress would be eager to tap the ensuing resentment.

Akbarpur MP Rajaram Pal, who hails from the shepherd community and defected to Congress from BSP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, presided over the rally. Umed Singh, husband of late bandit queen Phoolan Devi, was a prominent face on the dais. Rahul’s power dais of Union ministers like Sri Prakash Jaiswal, Khurshid, PL Punia , Jitin Prasada, Vyalar Ravi, and cine star-MP Raj Babbar , tried to portray a collective Congress nod to MBC interests.

