The move made by the Congress government in Maharashtra, in which they asked the manufacturing sector to reserve 80 per cent jobs for locals, was criticized by AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, just after one day of its announcement.

On Tuesday, Rahul said, “For me every citizen … should get equal opportunities throughout the length and breadth of country.”

When he was asked to give his take on Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray’s anti-outsider campaign, he replied, “He is advocating regionalism, to which I’m strongly opposed.”

He also expressed his opinion that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were also absolutely wrong. His view is a departure from his father, late PM Rajiv Gandhi’s statement — “Jab koi bada vriksh girta hai, to thori bahut zamin to hilti hai (When a big tree falls, the ground is bound to shake)”— on the riots.