NEW DELHI: Congress on Thursday said PM Narendra Modi had last year dubbed Rahul Gandhi ’s demand for a caste census as “urban naxal mindset”, poking fun at BJP leaders for taking credit for the govt decision to count caste in the much-awaited decennial census. It said the govt has not clarified the timeline for the census, which is overdue for five years, saying the PM has given a “headline without a deadline” which is a “diversionary tactic”.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet on Friday to discuss the government's decision on caste enumeration, and may pile further pressure on the government over its demands linked to the issue, besides amplifying the point that the BJP regime buckled under Rahul’s pressure. The CWC will also discuss the Pahalgam attack.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said RSS and Jan Sangh have been opposed to reservations from the start, and they have no right to criticise Congress, as he rebuffed the BJP’s attacks on the opposition party over the caste census. He said the socio-economic caste census was done by the Congress-led UPA government in 2013, but the Modi govt did not release its caste data despite repeated demands.
Highlighting Modi’s press interaction on April 28, 2024, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Congress spokesman Jairam Ramesh said in the interview, the PM had dismissed Rahul’s call for counting castes as ‘urban naxal mindset’.
Referring to “ek hain to safe hain” and “bantenge to katenge” slogans raised by the PM in the Maharashtra assembly elections to counter Rahul’s campaign on caste census, Ramesh said, “But now BJP ministers are taking credit. The PM has been silent on the demand for 11 years...suddenly, when the country is overwhelmed by the sorrow over Pahalgam, he announced the caste census...How can we take his announcement seriously, It is a headline management and diversionary tactic.”
Ramesh expressed doubt that the government will hold a caste census, saying the exercise takes 10 months to complete. Producing a govt press release, he said the Union cabinet had on Dec 24, 2019, decided to hold the decennial Census 2021, without caste, with an estimated cost of Rs 8,254 crore. He said the census is overdue by four years, while the government has allocated merely Rs 575 crore for the census commissioner in 2025-26. “How will you do a census with Rs 575 crore?”
As a follow-up to counting castes, Congress said the govt should bring a constitutional amendment to remove the 50% cap on quotas, arguing that Bihar did a caste survey and then raised the quotas to 65%, which has run into judicial challenge because of the ceiling. Else, he said the govt should put the quota laws in the 9th schedule.
He said caste census leads to complaints of a community being under-counted or otherwise but caste is a permanent feature of Indian society which cannot be ignored. He said there were diverse opinions in Congress over caste census but Rahul has built a consensus over the last five years.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet on Friday to discuss the government's decision on caste enumeration, and may pile further pressure on the government over its demands linked to the issue, besides amplifying the point that the BJP regime buckled under Rahul’s pressure. The CWC will also discuss the Pahalgam attack.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said RSS and Jan Sangh have been opposed to reservations from the start, and they have no right to criticise Congress, as he rebuffed the BJP’s attacks on the opposition party over the caste census. He said the socio-economic caste census was done by the Congress-led UPA government in 2013, but the Modi govt did not release its caste data despite repeated demands.
Highlighting Modi’s press interaction on April 28, 2024, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Congress spokesman Jairam Ramesh said in the interview, the PM had dismissed Rahul’s call for counting castes as ‘urban naxal mindset’.
Referring to “ek hain to safe hain” and “bantenge to katenge” slogans raised by the PM in the Maharashtra assembly elections to counter Rahul’s campaign on caste census, Ramesh said, “But now BJP ministers are taking credit. The PM has been silent on the demand for 11 years...suddenly, when the country is overwhelmed by the sorrow over Pahalgam, he announced the caste census...How can we take his announcement seriously, It is a headline management and diversionary tactic.”
Ramesh expressed doubt that the government will hold a caste census, saying the exercise takes 10 months to complete. Producing a govt press release, he said the Union cabinet had on Dec 24, 2019, decided to hold the decennial Census 2021, without caste, with an estimated cost of Rs 8,254 crore. He said the census is overdue by four years, while the government has allocated merely Rs 575 crore for the census commissioner in 2025-26. “How will you do a census with Rs 575 crore?”
As a follow-up to counting castes, Congress said the govt should bring a constitutional amendment to remove the 50% cap on quotas, arguing that Bihar did a caste survey and then raised the quotas to 65%, which has run into judicial challenge because of the ceiling. Else, he said the govt should put the quota laws in the 9th schedule.
He said caste census leads to complaints of a community being under-counted or otherwise but caste is a permanent feature of Indian society which cannot be ignored. He said there were diverse opinions in Congress over caste census but Rahul has built a consensus over the last five years.
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