HYDERABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday praised the Telangana government for conducting a comprehensive caste-based socio-economic survey, describing it as a model for data-driven governance.
Speaking at the Congress OBC Leadership - Bhagidari Nyay Mahasammelan in New Delhi, Rahul called the Socio-Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste Survey a “cutting-edge tool of empowerment in the digital age”.
He said the detailed data collected would allow Telangana to design targeted welfare and development policies, claiming that no other state currently matches its governance capacity.
“No other state in India today has the ability to target development the way Telangana has,” he told an audience of OBC leaders and Congress workers.
In a social media post later in the day, Rahul connected the survey to the Congress’s role in the creation of Telangana. He wrote: “Sonia ji’s fight to create the state of Telangana cemented our emotional connection to the people, the language, and the culture of this beautiful state.
I am filled with immense pride as I witness the efforts of the Congress government in conducting the caste survey. Their commitment to a sincere, inclusive and consultative process has set a new benchmark, one that should guide future Census exercises across the country.”
The former AICC president described the survey as laying the foundation for what he termed “Social Justice 2.0”, a framework for equitable governance based on data. “This is how India must move forward,” he said.
Rahul: Caste survey offers a street-level understanding
Drawing a comparison with past definitions of power, Rahul said: “In the 1950s, power came from oil — black gold. But today, if you ask Bill Gates or even Donald Trump, they’ll tell you that data defines power. Telangana now has that power, 21st-century data, in its hands.”
He added that the survey offered a “street-level” understanding of Telangana’s social and economic landscape, including indicators related to caste, education, health, employment and finance. Rahul said the data served not only as a social and economic resource but also as a political instrument capable of challenging entrenched power structures.
“This data is a social tool. It is a financial tool. But most importantly, what the BJP cannot stand is that it is a political tool,” he said, accusing the BJP-led Central government of blocking moves to expand caste-based reservations and resisting demands for a nationwide caste census.
“They will not conduct a caste census properly. Because if the country finds out the truth — the true conditions of OBCs, Dalits, Adivasis and even general castes — the politics of Hindutva will collapse,” he alleged.