If voted to power, Congress will conduct caste census: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi, September 25

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said if voted to power, his party would immediately conduct a “caste census” to give the OBCs and other marginalised communities what is their due.

PM averse to idea

The caste census has to be conducted if one wants to ensure participation of OBCs, Dalits, tribals and women…PM Modi is averse to the idea of caste census. Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader

Addressing the state government’s ‘Awas Nyay Sammelan’ in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, he said: “A caste census is like the X-ray of India. It will help understand how many OBCs, tribals, and individuals from the general category are there in the country. Once the data is available, the nation can move forward inclusively. However, he said, PM Modi was averse to the idea.

“If we are elected to power, our first step will be to conduct a caste census,” he said.

The Congress leader asked why the Modi government had not released the details of a ‘caste census’ conducted by the previous Congress government. He said the Union government was having this report, but “Modiji” did not want to disclose it”.

Earlier, launching the Bhupesh Baghel government’s ‘Gramin Awas Nyay Yojana aimed at providing financial assistance to the homeless and families having kutcha houses in rural areas with the help of remote control, Rahul said he pressed the remote control and several thousand crore rupees went into the accounts of poor people of Chhattisgarh.

“We (Congress) press remote control in front of cameras. The BJP does it secretly. When the BJP presses it, Adani gets airport and railway contracts,” he said, adding “When we press it, farmers receive money into their accounts through Nyay Scheme and English medium schools get opened (in Chhattisgarh). When BJP presses it, the public sector gets privatised.”