Rahul Gandhi promises caste-based census if Congress returns to power at Centre

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday (September 30) promised that if his party returned to power after the Lok Sabha elections next year, they will conduct a caste-based census to know the exact number of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) people in the country.

Addressing a public meeting in Kalapipal assembly constituency in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh, Rahul said, “Soon after coming to power, the first thing we will do is to go for a caste-based census to know the exact number of OBCs in the country.” On the Women's Reservation Bill, he asked why it had no quota for OBCs.

“When I ask how many Dalits, OBCs, tribals, general population are there in the country, no one is able to answer it.”

The Congress MP claimed that India was being run by only 90 officers including the cabinet secretary and secretaries. BJP MPs and MLAs had no role in framing policies and laws in the country, he said.

It is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and bureaucrats who are framing laws instead of elected BJP members, he added.

Hub of corruption

Terming Madhya Pradesh as the “epicentre” of corruption in the country, Rahul spoke about various scandals that have rocked the BJP-ruled state over the years.

He also claimed that 18,000 farmers had committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh in the last 18 years. This, he said, came to three suicides a day.

He said the Congress was fighting against the ideologies of the RSS and the BJP. “Ek taraf Gandhi hain aur ek taraf Godse hain,” (On one side there is Mahatma Gandhi and on the other there is Nathuram Godse), Rahul said, referring to the two camps led by the RSS/BJP and Congress.

“On one side there is hatred and violence and on the other side, there is love, respect and brotherhood,” said the former Congress president.

Madhya Pradesh is expected to go to the polls within a couple of months or so.

(With agency inputs)