Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday praised the Narendra Modi government for its efforts to uplift backward classes and accused the Congress-led opposition of merely offering “lip service” to the cause.

The Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development was addressing a party function in memory of Ramphal Mandal, a freedom fighter who went to the gallows at the age of 19 for killing three British officials who were blamed for a police firing during the 1942 Quit India movement.

Chouhan, a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, noted that Mandal was a “dhanuk”, a backward class “known for its contribution in nation building, in my home state as well as Bihar”. “Our opponents only pay lip service to backward classes who have got their due only under the current BJP regime, with an ‘ati pichhda’ (extremely backward class) Narendra Modi at the helm”, said Chouhan.

He added, “It is Modi who gave 27 per cent reservation to the OBCs in entrance tests like NEET. It is this government which granted constitutional status to the National OBC Commission. Compare this with the Congress which slept over recommendations of the Kalelkar Commission”.

Chouhan’s averment comes in the backdrop of the opposition, led by Rahul Gandhi, making a strong pitch for “caste census”, which implies enumeration of social groups other than SCs, STs and religious minorities, which was last undertaken about a century ago.

The BJP leader said, “Mere talks will not do. We need to make a difference to the lives of the common people. The Modi government is committed to build 13 lakh houses in the next four years for the benefit of the homeless. Entrepreneurship is being encouraged among women through schemes like Lakhpati Didi”.

“We are also trying to ensure an increase in agricultural output, alongside a reduction in cost of farming, so that agriculture is not seen as an economically unviable activity. Activities like horticulture and floriculture are also being encouraged and farmers are being provided support when they face losses because natural calamities”, the agriculture minister said.

Earlier, Chouhan held a discussion with farmers and said he was “amazed” to see stalls of local items like makhana, rice, honey and maize put up at the state-of-the-art ‘Krishi Bhavan’.

“In Bihar, we do not have large tracts of land. More than 90 per cent of cultivators are marginal farmers. But they are workng wonders”, remarked Chouhan.

The Minister also said that “makhana” (fox nuts), which is cultivated mostly in Bihar, is in huge demand abroad and its export would bring immense benefits to farmers.

“Diversification of agriculture is on the government’s roadmap... Along with traditional crops, we will encourage cultivation of items which could bring in more money”, the minister added.