Rahul Gandhi makes strong pitch for caste census, woos Dalits & OBCs in UP leg of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra

During his address, Rahul Gandhi said government was not bothered about the welfare of the people and that the BJP was only interested in garnering votes by 'dividing' people on caste and communal lines.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses supporters during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh district, on Monday.

Credit: PTI Photo

Lucknow: In an apparent change of strategy in Uttar Pradesh where his party had been reduced to being a fringe player, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sought to woo the Other Backward Class (OBC) community and Dalits in his UP leg of the ongoing 'Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra', ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections

Rahul, whose UP leg of the Yatra began on February 16, had been focussing on the OBCs and Dalits and caste census in his speeches in an apparent bid to dent the BJP's support base in the polls.

Addressing a series of public meetings in Raebareli -- considered to be a bastion of the Gandhis -- the Congress MP said that the OBCs and the dalits were not getting their dues in the present dispensation and that a caste census was essential to ensure that they got what they deserved.

''We will not be cowed down.... we will fight for caste census.... the 73 per cent population comprising the OBC and Dalits will continue to wander on the streets unless there is a caste census,'' he said.

During his address, Rahul also focussed on unemployment and inflation and said that the government was not bothered about the welfare of the people and that the BJP was only interested in garnering votes by "dividing" people on caste and communal lines.

Earlier in the day, the Rahul Gandhi-led Yatra, which entered Raebareli at Fursatganj from Amethi, was accorded a rousing reception by the Congress workers at different places in the district. Large crowds of people greeted the former Congress president at different places.

In his public address in Amethi on Monday, the Congress leader had targeted prime minister Narendra Modi claiming that the latter was not an OBC ''by birth'' and promised to conduct a caste census if his party came to power in the forthcoming general elections.

''Did you see any dalit or OBC at the Ram Lala consecration ceremony?'' he had told the gathering.