Pushing to fore its social justice agenda ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a fresh Caste Census along with decennial Census after Rahul Gandhi made a pitch for release of earlier caste data and removing the 50 per cent cap on reservation to provide proportional quota for Dalits, tribals and OBCs.
Kharge's letter and Rahul Gandhi raising the demand at Congress' campaign rally in Kolar on Sunday is seen as the party setting its agenda not just for the Karnataka elections but also for the general elections next year. Through this, the party aims to counter Hindutva consolidation and regain the confidence of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs, who have shifted their loyalty in large numbers first to Mandal parties and then to the BJP.
In his letter , which was released on Twitter on Monday, Kharge reminded the Prime Minister that the UPA government had conducted Socio Economic and Caste Census during 2011-12 covering around 25 crore households but for a number of reasons, the caste data could not be published. He said Congress and other MPs demanded its release after the Modi government came to power in May 2014.
"In the absence of an updated Caste Census, I am afraid a reliable data base so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete. This Census is the responsibility of the Union Government," he wrote. Noting that the Census 2021 has not been conducted yet, he said it should be done immediately and that a comprehensive Caste Census be made its "integral part".
As in Kolar, where his speech in 2019 led to his conviction in a defamation case and subsequent disqualification from Lok Sabha, Rahul in Bidar on Monday reiterated the Caste Census issue asking "kiski kitni abadi hai" (what is the population of each community).
In his Sunday speech, he also said that the SCs and STs should get a quota proportionate to their population and the government should remove the 50 per cent cap on quota to enable OBCs, SCs and STs to get more quota. At present, OBC quota is 27 per cent, SCs 15 per cent and STs 7.5 per cent.
While there is no official count of OBCs though Mandal Commission put it at 52 per cent, the Census 2011 said the SCs account for 16.6per cent and STs 8.6 per cent.
The immediate goal for the Congress in pushing the OBC plank is to dismiss BJP allegations that Rahul insulted OBCs through his speech in Kolar three years ago and to woo Kannadiga voters. However, party sources said, the move is a well thought out one as it plans to woo voters big time ahead of the 2024 elections.
It also comes as a follow up to the Congress Raipur Plenary resolutions promising extension of quota regime to private sector, setting up of a separate Ministry of OBCs and reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs in the higher judiciary.
The tweaking of Congress strategy also comes against the backdrop of the party trying to right the 1990s' experiences when it lost the OBC and other vulnerable groups' support to Mandal politics.