Once the Congress comes to power at the Centre, the first decision will be to conduct a caste census across the country, party’s former president Rahul Gandhi reiterated at an election rally in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday.
Gandhi said the caste census would be the most revolutionary decision after Independence.
Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks that ‘poverty’ is the only caste in the country, Gandhi said: "When it comes to giving rights to OBCs, they say there are no OBCs and there is only one caste in India, the poor. There are OBCs, and we will find out how many there are. Whether it's 10, 20, or 60 per cent, you will get as much participation as there is population”.
Gandhi promised a caste survey in Chhattisgarh if the Congress comes to power in the state in the ongoing assembly elections.
“Whether Narendra Modi does it or not, if our government is formed in Chhattisgarh, a caste survey will be done here. When our government is formed in Delhi, the first signature will be on the caste census," he said.
The first phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections was held on November 7 and the second phase will be held on Friday. Counting of votes will take place on December 3.
Congress came to power in the state in the 2018 Assembly elections after winning 68 of the 90 seats. The BJP bagged 15 seats.
A nation-wide caste survey was one of the major poll planks of the opposition INDIA bloc ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The Bihar government, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in a recent decision had hiked the reservation cap in the state to 65 per cent, based on a caste survey report. With the central government’s 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker sections, the overall quota in Bihar has now increased to 75 per cent.
