Rahul Gandhi calls caste census his life mission and Congress’ first task
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the ‘wealth redistribution’ controversy
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday called the caste census his “life mission” and said that it will be the first task his party will take up if elected to power. He also hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the wealth redistribution controversy saying that they are in “panic mode” after reading the Congress’s “revolutionary” manifesto and asserted that the party aims to provide relief to 90 per cent of Indians by reclaiming a portion of the ₹16 lakh crore provided as loan waivers to 22-25 big businessmen by the BJP.
Speaking at the ‘Samajik Nyay Sammelan’ in the national capital, Gandhi said, “Caste census is not politics for me, it is my life mission. No power in the world can stop the caste census. The census will be the first task we will take up when the Congress is elected to office. This is my guarantee.”
On the “wealth redistribution” controversy, the Wayanad MP said, “I have not said we will take action yet... I am just saying let’s find out how much injustice has been done.”
On Tuesday, speaking at a Lok Sabha election campaign rally in Rajasthan’s Tonk, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The Congress has a ploy to snatch property from people and distribute it to its special people. I exposed this vote bank politics, this appeasement politics and it led to a meltdown in the Congress and its ecosystem. They are now abusing me.”
Rahul Gandhi said the caste census is not just a caste survey but will have “economic” and “institutional” components as well which will “reveal” which communities have been benefitting and what should be done to ensure socio-economic justice. He further alleged that BJP is “wiping out” the history of the Dalits and the tribals and they must take action against it.
{{/usCountry}}Rahul Gandhi said the caste census is not just a caste survey but will have “economic” and “institutional” components as well which will “reveal” which communities have been benefitting and what should be done to ensure socio-economic justice. He further alleged that BJP is “wiping out” the history of the Dalits and the tribals and they must take action against it.
{{/usCountry}}Gandhi said that he is not interested in caste but is interested in “justice” and questioned Modi on his OBC status saying, “Prime Minister Modi has been saying for the past ten years that he is an OBC but when I talked about caste census, Modi said that there is no caste. If there is no caste, how are you OBC? Modi said that in India there are only two castes, poor and rich...then bring out the lists of poor and rich. One will find OBCs and Dalits, Adivasis in poor people’s list but they will not find them in the rich list.”
{{/usCountry}}Gandhi said that he is not interested in caste but is interested in “justice” and questioned Modi on his OBC status saying, “Prime Minister Modi has been saying for the past ten years that he is an OBC but when I talked about caste census, Modi said that there is no caste. If there is no caste, how are you OBC? Modi said that in India there are only two castes, poor and rich...then bring out the lists of poor and rich. One will find OBCs and Dalits, Adivasis in poor people’s list but they will not find them in the rich list.”
{{/usCountry}}Speaking on the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony, Gandhi said, “Not a single Dalit, tribal was seen at Ram temple and Parliament building inauguration, 90% of population understands this.” He also took a jibe on the BJP for not inviting President Droupadi Murmu for the Ram temple ceremony held on January 22.
He further said that the media has portrayed him as a “non-serious” politician. He alleged that MGNREGA, fight against land acquisition bill, ‘Niyamgiri,’ and ‘Bhatta Parsaul’ were shown as non-serious issues but Amitabh Bacchan, Aishwarya Rai, Virat Kohli are shown as “serious issues” by the media.
“I checked the stakeholders...there is not one OBC, dalit, tribal who is a big anchor...so the loudspeaker is not with you. There is no representation in the media. Whose money goes into the media? Governments give money. Whose money comes in GST? This is the money of the 90 per cent people,” he said.
Gandhi further said, “I also looked at the Judiciary, there are 650 high court judges, but 90 percent population has representation from 100 judges, that too small ones, and by the time we reach the Supreme court that’s finished. ₹16 lakh crores have been given to 25 billionaires...If you forgive the money of farmers debt, 25 times that much money Modi has given to the 25 people. Media, private hospitals, big companies, judiciary- there’s no one from the 90 percent.”
Calling the caste census a “National X-Ray,” Gandhi said, “What does a deshbhakt want? A deshbhakt wants justice in the country. A deshbhakt wants India to move forward and become a superpower. So, if you want to become a superpower and move ahead of China, one has to use strength of 90 per cent of the population. Those who call themselves ‘deshbhakt’ are scared of the X-Ray.”
