HYDERABAD: On the eve of launching a survey on caste composition in the state, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will hold extensive consultations with various stakeholders — including party functionaries, intellectuals, student unions and caste-based organisations — in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The former AICC president, a strong advocate of rights proportional to population, has even coined the slogan “Jitni Abadi, Utna Haq” to champion this idea.
In a show of priority for the caste census, Rahul is set to attend this event in the state, despite a packed campaign schedule for byelections in different states and Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, sources said, adding that the party is expected to share details on the methodology the government has adopted to conduct the survey.
The ruling party initiated the caste census in fulfilment of a promise Rahul made during the Assembly election campaign. Within 10 months of taking office, the Congress has established a process to complete the caste census, with a targeted deadline of around three weeks, by the end of November.
According to party sources, Rahul will deliver a talk on the significance of caste-based census. The Rae Bareli MP has often spoken in the favour of equal justice and emphasised constitutional values.
“Rahul strongly believes that reservations based on the proportional representation of different communities will achieve equal justice. He has repeatedly highlighted the imbalanced distribution of key positions at the national level,” said TPCC media and communications chairperson Sama Rammohan Reddy. He added that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s government will implement development and welfare schemes following the principles set by the former AICC president.
All 119 Congress MLAs, 17 MPs, MLCs and DCC presidents have been invited to the meeting. Revanth along with his Cabinet colleagues and other senior party leaders will also attend the programme.
Meanwhile, TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud said that elaborate arrangements have been made for the event. The party is also making arrangements for a large congregation as heavy crowd is expected to attend the meeting. Earlier on Monday, Mahesh accompanied ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and D Sridhar Babu in the inspection of arrangements at the Gandhian Ideology Centre and the party office.
3-week deadline
The entire caste survey process has a deadline of three weeks
It is expected to be completed by end of November