Jaipur: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday demanded caste based census and also promised that if Congress comes back to power at the Centre, women reservation bill will be implemented immediately.
Addressing a mammoth gathering in Jaipur, he said: “Caste census will give complete information about who are the people in India, how many women are there and, how many are OBC, how many are Dalits, tribal minorities, and how many are in general category. The Prime Minister talks about OBCs 24 hours a day. If we talk about respect for OBCs, then why is the Prime Minister afraid of caste census,” he questioned.
Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Central government wants to change the name of the country. “They wanted to rename India as Bharat, that is why they called a special session of the Parliament, but stopped it and brought the Women’s Reservation Bill when they got to know that changing name is not acceptable to public.”
He said that the entire opposition supported women reservation. “We want women reservation to be implemented from today itself, but BJP wants to implement it after 10 years.”
He said that Modi wants to give participation to OBC category, but why is he afraid of caste census. “They are also afraid of Adani. If BJP people come asking for votes, ask them why they are not conducting caste census.”
On OBC, Rahul Gandhi said: “When I did research, I came to know what is the participation of OBC, Dalit and tribal class in our institutions? Today, India is run by the Prime Minister along with 90 officers. He is the secretary of every ministry. The Prime Minister talks about OBCs, but out of these 90 officers, only three are OBCs. They have only five per cent of India’s budget.”
To instill enthusiasm among the Congress workers, Rahul Gandhi said that to see a lion in the forest, one has to work for many hours, but there are thousands of lions sitting in front of me.
He said that in Rajasthan, the government has given a health scheme like Chirnjeevi Yojana and the cylinder is given for Rs 500. “The workers should go and tell the public about all this work.”
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said: “If Congress government comes in 2024, we will immediately implement women reservation bill. President Draupadi Murmu was not invited at the time of inauguration of the new Parliament building. This is an insult to the President. She was not invited because she was a tribal.”
He said that when Ramnath Kovind was the President, he was not invited to the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Parliament House, because he was considered untouchable. “When the untouchables come, they wash the place with Ganga water,” he said.
—IANS