Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday batted for increasing reservation even as the Congress went on the offensive against the BJP’s “misrepresentation” of his remarks in the US.

Asked at the National Press Club in Washington if the Congress viewed the caste census as an antidote to Hindutva politics and whether the revival of the mandal-kamandal discourse is the way forward, Rahul said it had nothing to do with the BJP’s policies.

“The Congress has always, right from even before Independence, fought for the idea that India should be a fair country and the idea that all Indians should be treated the same way. We feel very strongly that there is a very deep problem with participation, and we are going to address that problem. What we are saying is different from the idea of only reservations. We want a comprehensive understanding of what’s going on and then apply a series of policies to correct it, with reservations being one of them,” he said.

He also addressed the “misrepresentation” of his remarks back home by the BJP. “Somebody misquoted me as saying I am against reservations. We are going to increase reservations beyond 50 per cent. I have been repeatedly stating this and have never been against reservations,” he said.

His clarification follows the BJP’s interpretation of Rahul’s reply to a question during an interactive session at Georgetown University on Monday. Rahul was asked: “At what point, if at all, would you move away from the idea of caste-based reservations being a permanent solution to the underlying grassroots issues that necessitate such reservation-based systems?”

After citing the lack of representation of the marginalised sections in the top echelons of the bureaucracy, Rahul had said: “We will think of scrapping reservations when India is a fair place. And, India is not a fair place.”

On whether the US should exert pressure on India for democratic backsliding, persecution of minorities and freedom of the press, Rahul said: “The fight for democracy in India is an Indian fight. It has nothing to do with anybody else; it is our problem. We’ll take care of it; we’ll fight and we will make sure that democracy is secure.”

On whether India has handled the US-China competition well under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul said: “If you call having Chinese troops in 4,000sqkm of our territory handling something well, maybe…. It’s a disaster. How would America react if a neighbour occupied 4,000sqkm of your territory? Would any President be able to get away with saying he has handled that well? I don’t think Mr Modi has handled China well at all…”

Reacting to Union home minister Amit Shah’s claim that Rahul had made “anti-national statements” in the US, Congress spokesman Pawan Khera said: “What is anti-national? Giving a clean chit to China is anti-national. Saying that China has done something wrong is not anti-national... Prime Minister has done something most anti-national by giving clean chit to China.”

On Rahul meeting Congresswoman Ilhan Omar who has publicly criticised Modi, Khera said: “We want to know who all the Prime Minister meets when he travels abroad? Does he have the courage to make that list public?”