Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday claimed that previous governments did not address the problems of socially and economically backward classes, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed the Other Backward Classes commission, PTI reported.

Speaking at a Dussehra rally in Maharashtra’s Beed district, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader also praised Modi for scrapping Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status. “The prime minister integrated Jammu and Kashmir with India,” Shah said. “His work should reach every home in this [Marathwada] region.”

The Rajya Sabha in August passed the 123rd Constitutional Amendment Bill, which provides constitutional backing to the National Commission for Backward Classes.

“The previous governments in last 70 years could do nothing for the Other Backward Classes,” the Union home minister alleged. “It was Modi who formed the OBC commission to address their issues through the constitutional framework.”

He assured the people that the BJP government had undertaken several developmental projects as well.

The Maharashtra Assembly elections will be held on October 21 and the results will be announced on October 24.