Congress leader Rahul Gandhi speaks as Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and party leader KC Venugopal look on during a press conference, in New Delhi, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023.
Credit: PTI Photo
On Monday, when the schedule for polls in five states was unveiled, the Congress pledged to conduct a nationwide Caste Census, implement OBC quota within women's quota and bring in a law to remove the 50 per cent cap to ensure reservation for OBCs, SCs and STs in line with the commensurate share of population once it is voted to power at the Centre.
It also welcomed the objective of the Justice Rohini Commission of sub-categorisation within OBCs but underlined that it will "remain incomplete without detailed data" on the socio-economic position of various communities, which it said can be obtained either from the still unreleased Socio Economic and Caste Census of 2011 or a fresh Caste Census.
The "historic" endorsement for the Caste Census and other decisions came at the second meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) within three weeks, chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by four chief ministers of party-led governments, among others. The four-hour-long meeting resolved that the party-led state government will take forward the exercise of Caste Census.
Sharing the details at a press conference where he was flanked by Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot, Siddaramaiah, Bhupesh Baghel and Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, top party leader Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not holding Caste Census, while also acknowledging that some of Congress's partners in the I.N.D.I.A bloc have reservations.
"This is a historic decision and not a single person in the CWC who did not give support. It is a matter of happiness. It is a powerful programme of emancipation," he said. At the CWC meeting, Sonia Gandhi said, "I am 100% with the Caste Census. We must get it done. This is our highest priority."
Seeking to pitch the battle as “poor versus rich”, Rahul said an economic survey will also be held along with Caste Census to know who has how much wealth and who holds assets. “This X-Ray of the country is needed,” he said.
The resolution adopted by the CWC said that a government, if led by Congress, will conduct a nationwide Caste Census as part of the normal decadal Census, which was due in 2021. It said it would also implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies at the earliest, ensuring adequate representation for women belonging to SCs, STs and including OBCs as well. "The unnecessary obstacles of Census and delimitation imposed by the Modi government will be removed," it said.
The third promise was about the removal of the cap of 50 per cent "through legislation for the reservation of OBCs, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in line with the commensurate share of population".
Interestingly, the resolution did not mention proportional reservation or Rahul's favourite pitch 'jitna abaadi, utna haq' (representation proportional to population), in what is seen as a subtle tweak. Rahul also did not mention the 'jitna abaadi, utna haq' phrase during the presser despite speaking about the poor having the right to resources.
Asked about whether the Congress's stand will be endorsed by all I.N.D.I.A partners, Rahul said most of the parties in the bloc support and push for a Caste Census. "Some parties may have slightly different opinions. If any party has a different opinion, we are quite flexible. They can have that opinion. We are not fascists. A vast majority supports the idea," he said.
Rahul also took exception to Modi's remarks attacking the Congress over its pitch for Caste Census and 'jitna abaadi, utna haq' pitch' by saying that the Prime Minister was making "incorrect statements" and that he did not understand what Caste Census has to do with representation of South India. "The Prime Minister is incapable of conducting Caste Census," he said.
According to the resolution, which welcomed the release of Bihar Caste Survey, the developments show the critical importance of a nationwide Caste Census, which will reveal an accurate picture of the socio-economic position of communities across the country and provide a sound, data-driven basis for policies to strengthen the foundations of social justice and ensure inclusive development.
"The Modi government has cheated the OBC communities and other deprived sections of the country by not releasing the data of the 2011 Socio Economic and Caste Census and not carrying out a fresh Caste Census; it has also failed in its Constitutional duty by inordinately postponing the decadal Census that ought to have been conducted in 2021 or soon thereafter. It is a matter of shame that India remains the only country in the G20 that has failed to carry out the Census," it said.