Cong to Conduct Caste-based Census in Country If Voted to Power to Know Exact Number of OBCs: Rahul Gandhi – News18

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said if his party is voted to power at the Centre, it would conduct a caste-based census to know the exact number of OBC people living in the country.

He claimed that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and central government officers were framing the laws of the country instead of the elected representatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Addressing a public meeting in Kalapipal assembly constituency in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh, where state elections are due by the year-end, Gandhi described the state as an “epicentre of corruption” and claimed that 18,000 farmers have ended their lives there in the last 18 years under the BJP rule.

“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 and other sections of people for the benefit of all as no one knows their exact number,” Gandhi said.

He claimed that the country was being run by only 90 officers, including the cabinet secretary and secretaries, while the BJP MPs and MLAs had no role in framing policies and laws in the country.

“The RSS and bureaucrats are framing laws instead of elected BJP members…The RSS has given the job to the government to divert people’s attention from core issues,” he said.

The former Congress president said he was disqualified from the Lok Sabha after he spoke against an industrialist Gautam Adani in the House.

“After I raised the issue, BJP quashed my membership. I don’t bother, I will speak the truth,” he said.

On the women’s reservation law, he said it would take around 10 years to implement, and wondered why it does not have reservation for women from Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

“Women’s reservation is good. But they have incorporated two lines in it. It will be implemented after (population census) survey and de-notification (delimitation). This will take 10 years…Why is there no OBC reservation in it?” he said.

He said that there are two ideologies at play in India – one of love, respect and brotherhood endorsed by the Congress, while another of hate and anger that is “backed by the RSS and the BJP”.

“We (Congress) pursue the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, while they follow (his assassin) Nathuram Godse. They pursue hate ideology. Now, the youth and farmers have started hating them. They are being paid back in the same coin,” he added.

The government was not working for the people but for a couple of industrialists, he alleged.

“Madhya Pradesh is an epicentre of corruption in the country. Scams like Vyapam have rocked the state. MBBS degrees are being sold, exam papers are being leaked, and (there is corruption) in the construction of Mahakal Lok corridor, among others,” he said.

He claimed that 18,000 farmers have committed suicide in the last 18 years. “It means that three farmers end their lives every day in the state,” Gandhi alleged.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)