‘What was stand taken by his father’?: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan jabs Rahul Gandhi on caste census

Congress Working Committee, the top decision making body of the grand old party, unanimously supported the idea of a caste census in the country.

Published on: Oct 9, 2023, 19:05:56 IST

By HT News Desk | Written by Aryan Prakash

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Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday hit out at the Congress over its resolution supporting caste census in the country.

“Census comes within the purview of Central Government. In India, caste-based census was held before independence. After that, there was a conscious decision on how to have a census”, he told news agency ANI.

“I would like to ask Rahul Gandhi that when the recommendations of the Mandal Commission were made in the 90s, what was the stand taken by his father? He vehemently opposed it in the Parliament...They were in power for so long. They never took up this responsibility...This is a tactic by the Congress to hide from the sin they committed in the past few days”, Pradhan added.

Earlier in the day, Congress Working Committee, the top decision making body of the grand old party, unanimously supported the idea of a caste census in the country.

“The PM is incapable of doing the caste census. Our three out of four CMs are from the OBC category. Out of 10 BJP CMs, only one CM is from the OBC category. How many BJP CMs are from the OBC category? The PM doesn't work for the OBCs but to distract them from main issues”, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said at a briefing held after the key party huddle.

Gandhi said that the chief ministers of Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, all Congress-ruled states, believe that it is a very important step.

Out of these, Rajasthan government has issued orders to conduct caste based census, a move taken ahead of the assembly election that will take place on Novmeber 23. The decision by Ashok Gehlot government comes days after Bihar released the findings of the caste census survey report. The Congress is a part of the ruling coalition in Bihar.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. (HT file)

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