Rahul makes fresh pitch for caste census in LS

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday raised his caste census pitch again in the Lok Sabha during his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, saying that not a single corporate was owned by a Dalit or an OBC. His remarks drew the ire of the BJP, who countered him by saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself belonged to the OBC category.

During his address in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi said, “We have done a caste census in Telangana and what we have found is shocking." 

“Almost 90% of Telangana is either Dalit, Adivasi, or OBC. I am convinced that is the story across the country. I am convinced that the OBC population is not less than 50%.”

He was referring to a caste survey report released on Sunday, which said Backward Classes constituted up to 56.33% of the Telangana population. According to the report, Scheduled Castes (SC) account for 17.43% of the total population while Scheduled Tribes (ST) are 10.45% in the state. There are 15.79% Other Castes (OC) in Telangana.

The Congress leader also recalled last year’s budget when he raised objections over a photograph officers seen with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the halwa ceremony, where he said that no Dalit or OBC member was included with Sitharaman. “This time, the photo has been removed entirely,” he added.

“At the centre of any new developmental paradigm for this country which runs parallel with the production paradigm is the participation of lower class, OBCs, Dalits, Adivasis in the wealth of this country,” Gandhi said.

Rahul Gandhi also claimed that OBCs did not have any real power despite being 50% of the population. “If we look at the largest corporates in the country, none of them are owned by OBCs, Dalits or tribes… The architecture of a new developmental paradigm can only be built once the caste census is placed on the table,” he said.

He said the caste census remained the only way of ascertaining how much wealth in the country is owned by 90% of the population. Pointing to the ruling party’s seats in the parliament, Rahul Gandhi continued, “There are OBC, Dalit and Adivasi MPs in the BJP. Remember, you have 50% of the population and you have absolutely no power. I know you are sitting there, and you can’t even open your mouth. That is the truth of the country.”

Following Rahul Gandhi’s remarks, the BJP MPs of the Lok Sabha rose and protested vehemently against his OBC comments, saying that PM Modi himself was from OBC category. “Are you blind? Can’t you see the face of the country’s Prime Minister,” said Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.

Rahul Gandhi also pitched for the use of artificial intelligence in caste census. “Imagine the power of AI when we apply it to the caste census. Imagine what we will do with AI and what we will do with the social revolution in this country when we start to apply AI to the data that we get from the caste census,” he said.

“We are going to run a parallel track, on one side revolutionizing the participation of Dalits, OBC and Adivasis in the ruling of this country, in the institutions of this country, in the distribution of wealth of this country and on the other side, parallel track challenge the Chinese and participate in the revolution, defeat the Chinese in electric motors, batteries, solar panels and wind,” he further said.