Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Caste census, saying that the ruling Modi government will never conduct a genuine caste census because, once they do, their politics will come to an end.
Addressing the ‘Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan’ in poll-bound Bihar’s Nalanda district, Rahul Gandhi highlighted two models of the caste census: one of the BJP’s closed-door approach and the Congress-led Telangana government’s inclusive method, which involved public input.
“My aim is Caste Census. In Lok Sabha, in front of Modi ji, I told him that Caste Census would be conducted. They will never get a genuine caste census done because the day they get it done, their politics will end,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi added that the most important thing in the caste census is the questions being asked.
“Caste census has two types of models, one is BJP’s model, the other is Telangana’s model. In the BJP model, officers decided the questions in a closed room. The most important thing in the caste census is which questions are being asked. At the same time, we openly asked questions from the public in Telangana,” he added.
He further criticized Prime Minister Modi, saying that although he claims to be an OBC, but when it comes to the caste census, he denies the existence of caste in India.
“Narendra Modi used to say in every speech, I am OBC. Then, on the caste census, they say that there is no caste in India. If there is no caste in India, then how did Narendra Modi become an OBC?” he said.
Rahul Gandhi reiterated his demand for the conduct of a fair caste census, saying that although India has 500 big companies however none of their CEOs are from the Dalit, OBC, or Adivasi category.
“There are 500 big companies, whose loans worth lakhs and crores of rupees are waived off, but you will not find the name of even one Dalit, OBC, or Adivasi CEO among them,” he said.
He also pointed out that despite reservations in the judiciary and bureaucracy, only three secretaries are from backward and extremely backward classes, and those too are in low-profile departments.
“In the education system, all schools and colleges are privatized; if you get a list of their owners, you will not find anyone from the 90%. There is a reservation in the judiciary and bureaucracy, but your people sit in closed rooms at the back. When it comes to budget, the budget was made by 11 officers, none of them were from the 90%, in big ministries, out of 90, 3 secretaries are from backward and extremely backward classes, that too in low-profile departments,” he said.
The Central Government on Wednesday announced that it will conduct the Population Census – 2027 in two phases, along with the enumeration of castes.
The first phase will be conducted from October 1, 2026, in hilly and snow-hit areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Ladakh. While the second phase will be held from March 1, 2027, and will cover other parts of the country.
The Bihar Elections are expected to be held between October and November this year.
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