The BJP-led ruling NDA comes under pressure as Rahul Gandhi pushes hard for a caste-based census. BJP’s top leaders reply with humor and aggression, but the Congress party seems to have an upper hand at the moment
Our Bureau
New Delhi
The Congress party promised to pass a constitutional amendment to raise the Supreme Court mandated 50 per cent cap on reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), as per its poll manifesto. The party also promised to conduct a nation-wide Socio-Economic and Caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions. Now, the party under the leadership of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is attacking the ruling party and pushing it into a corner.
On Tuesday, after a heated debate, Rahul accused BJP MP Anurag Thakur of “abusing and insulting” him in the Lok Sabha during the discussion on the Union Budget on Tuesday. Anurag Thakur entered into a heated argument with Rahul Gandhi during his speech in the Lower House of the Parliament, saying that those whose caste is unknown are speaking on the issue of caste census. “Those whose caste is not known, talk about the caste census. I want to remind the Speaker that in this House itself, a former prime minister RG-1 (Rajiv Gandhi) had opposed reservation for OBCs,” the BJP MP said.
Rahul Gandhi replied, “Whoever raises the issues of Adivasi, Dalit and the backward, is abused. I will happily accept these abuses…Anurag Thakur has abused me and insulted me. But I do not want any apology from him.”
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav intervened in the conservation and questioned Anurag Thakur how one could ask about the caste of any person. “How can you ask caste…?” he asked BJP leader in the Lower House. The caste census was one of the Congress party’s promises in the 2024 general elections.
Thakur’s speech quickly pivoted to a sharp critique of Congress and its leaders. He highlighted the Congress’s historical opposition to OBC reservations and accused them of being disconnected from the realities of caste and community issues.
Thakur’s remarks, punctuated by historical references and literary citations, underscored his defense of the BJP’s policies and symbol while attacking the Congress’s legacy and leadership. Notably, Rahul Gandhi drew parallels from the Mahabharata, on Monday and attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Union Budget saying that there’s an atmosphere of fear in the country, adding that the country is now trapped in a “Chakravyuh of lotus,” referring to the BJP’s symbol.
Later in a related development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday applauded BJP leader Anurag Thakur for his speech in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, where the latter responded to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s earlier address and described it as “a perfect mix of facts and humor.”
“This speech by my young and energetic colleague, Shri @ianuragthakur is a must hear. A perfect mix of facts and humor, exposing the dirty politics of the INDI Alliance,” PM Modi posted on X.
Anurag Thakur defended the BJP’s lotus symbol and launched a scathing attack on the Congress party during the discussion on the Union Budget on Tuesday. He then replied to the criticisms from opposition leaders who had made derogatory remarks about the BJP’s election symbol, the lotus. “The lotus is not just our election symbol but also represents Goddess Lakshmi, our national flower, and the meditative posture of Padmasana,” Thakur stated. He accused the opposition of insulting revered figures like Lord Shiva, Buddha, and Lokmanya Tilak by disparaging the lotus.
Meanwhile, RJD leader Manoj Jha criticized PM Modi for applauding Thakur’s speech in the Lower House and posted on X, “Prime Minister has proved by his long tweets in praise of the former minister who used to say ‘shoot them/abuse them’ how regressive and medieval his views are about today’s most burning issue of social justice, i.e., caste census. Sir! History takes note of everything!”
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge attacked the BJP over the ‘caste census’ and said that the BJP-RSS wants to snatch away reservations of backward classes under conspiratorial pretexts.
“Yes, I am an Indian and a Dalit, but I don’t know how many of us are. Yes, I am tribal, but I don’t know how many we are. Yes, I am OBC, but I don’t know how many we are. Today we all need to assess what our contribution is to the progress of this country. BJP-RSS people are conspiring to hide this from us so that they can keep us backward and usurp our rights by snatching away reservations under conspiratorial pretexts,” Kharge posted on X.
“BJP-RSS believes in ‘Manusmriti’ and not even an iota in the Constitution of Baba Saheb Dr. Ambedkar. They want to continue the 5,000-year-old social exploitation in this country,” he added.
Meanwhile, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi criticized the Modi government on Wednesday claiming that it has no intention to conduct the Census, which has been overdue since 2021.
She added that the failure to conduct the census will not only prevent an accurate estimate of the country’s population but also deny over 12 crore citizens, particularly from scheduled castes and tribes, benefits under the National Food Security Act.
While speaking at the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting held at in the national capital Sonia said, “It is clear that the Government has no intention whatsoever to conduct the Census that was last due in 2021. This will prevent us from having an up-to-date estimate of the population of the country, especially of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. It also means that at least 12 crores of our citizens are denied the benefit of the National Food Security Act of 2013 – now repackaged as PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana,” as per a statement issued by the All-India Congress Committee.
But launching scathing attacks on the INDIA bloc, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said that they should conduct a caste census in the states where they are in power.
“They (INDIA alliance) should conduct a caste census in the states where they are in power. I want to ask them why they are not doing it in Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab and West Bengal. In Karnataka, they have already done the caste survey but still, they are not disclosing the data. Karnataka Dy CM has threatened that if you disclose the data then what will be the consequences,” Trivedi said.
Earlier on Monday, JD(U) leader KC Tyagi demanded that reservation should be included in the ninth schedule of the Constitution and said the party is in favor of caste census.
He made the remarks after the Supreme Court refused to stay Patna High Court order that set aside the state government’s amendments to increase quota in the state for some sections.
“It is bad news for the deprived sections of the society…We demand that reservation should be included in the ninth schedule of the Constitution so that every matter related to reservation could be exempted from the judicial review…JD(U) is in favor of conducting caste census in the country,” Tyagi said.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that Modi government has failed to conduct Census and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech did not mention funds for decadal Population Census which was supposed to take place in 2021.
“It is highly disappointing that the Finance Minister’s announcement on Data and Statistics makes no mention of releasing funds for the decadal Population Census that was supposed to have taken place in 2021, but has still not been conducted,” Jairam Ramesh said.
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on July 15 ordered the officials to prepare an action plan to increase the BC (Backward Classes) quota in the upcoming local body Panchayat elections. The Chief Minister held a review of the proposal to enhance the BC quota in the local body elections at the Secretariat.
The caste census issue is now at the center of Congress party’s strategy to push back against the aggression by the BJP leaders. The strategy seems to be working at the moment as it has rattled the ruling alliance.
