'Caste Census Mission Of My Life': Rahul Gandhi Says No Force Can Stop It If Congress Wins Elections

Rahul Gandhi has said that Congress will conduct a caste census if his party wins the ongoing elections.

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked the BJP-led Narendra Modi government over not conducting the caste census and said that ensuring justice for the people of India is his life's mission. Addressing the ‘Samajik Nyay Sammelan’, the Congress leader alleged that those who call themselves ‘deshbakt’ are scared of the ‘X-ray’ of caste census. During his speech, the Gandhi scion assured that no force can stop it if his party wins the elections. The Congress leader said ensuring social justice for the people of India and conducting the caste census is his life's mission. He also pledged to ensure justice for the 90 per cent of the population against whom injustice has been done. 

“As soon as our government is formed, the first thing that would be done is caste census,” Rahul Gandhi said.

Rahul also alleged that the Modi government transferred crores of rupees to a few billionaires and said that the Congress manifesto talks about returning a small amount of that money to the people who are at the bottom of the pyramid of income and wealth distribution. " There is mention of x-ray (caste census) and income inequality created by Modi ji. The Congress will return a small amount of money to 90% of the people of the country from the Rs 16 lakh crore given to the 22 people by Narendra Modi," he said.

The Congress MP from Kerala's Wayanad claimed that there is no one from the Other Backward Classes community in India's rich people's list. "Prime Minister Modi has been saying for ten years that he is an OBC but when I talked about caste census, Modi said that there is no caste. If there is no caste how are you OBC? Then he said that in India there are only two castes poor and rich. All right if you agree that there are rich and poor people in India, then bring out the lists of poor and rich in India. Then you will find OBCs and Dalits, Adivasis in poor people's list, and see no Dalits, Adivasis and backwards in the rich list," he said.

Speaking on the Caste census at the Social justice conclave in Delhi,  Rahul Gandhi said, "...After 70 years, it is an important step, we should assess what is the situation now and what direction we need to take. We will implement this."

#WATCH | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at an event, says, "Caste census is not politics for me, it is my life's mission, and I will not leave it. No power can stop the caste census. As soon as the Congress government comes, we will first conduct caste census. This is my… pic.twitter.com/gkkBummL7Z — ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2024

He also said that PM Modi has panicked over the promises made by the Congress parry in its manifesto. "So did you like the Congress manifesto? You must have seen that the PM has panicked. It is a revolutionary manifesto," he added.

Rahul Gandhi made these remarks in response to Prime Minister Modi's criticism that the Congress manifesto smacks of appeasement and that if it came to power, it would redistribute people's wealth and also give reservations to Muslims from the quota for SC, ST, and OCB communities.

Rahul added, "They say I'm not serious, I'm not interested in politics. Land Acquisition Bill, MNREGA, Niyamgiri, Bhatta Parsaul are not serious. When people talk about the larger population they call us non-serious. When you don't have the loudspeaker in hand, everything you say is non-serious," he said.