HYDERABAD: Asserting that the Congress would demolish the “artificial barrier” of 50% cap on reservations after coming to power at the Centre, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that he remains committed to caste census and the Telangana model would be adopted for such an exercise nationwide.
Terming the caste census slated to commence across Telangana from Wednesday as a solution to discrimination and a political instrument that would essentially define the future of the country, Rahul demanded to know why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not publicly challenging caste discrimination.
Modi was accusing him of dividing the people for making this discrimination transparent, Rahul alleged.
“We will demolish the artificial barrier of 50% cap on reservations. For me, Telangana is the model for the nationwide caste census. I would like to thank the leadership of Telangana because they have done a truly beautiful thing in this process,” Rahul said. He was addressing a consultation meeting with student outfits, caste-based rights organisations and party ideologues at Gandhian Ideology Centre here.
The meeting was also attended by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and their Cabinet colleagues, and legislators.
Stating that discrimination in the name of caste has been an indisputable fact prevalent in the country for thousands of years and only a tip of iceberg is visible, Rahul said that this malaise was present in boardrooms, behind examinations, in interviews and conversations and inside people’s minds.
“Caste is in the legal system, political system, and every single place. It destroys lives, careers, and confidence, destroying belief in the system. And if you want to talk about a powerful country, progress and happiness among our people, the absolute first thing we need to do is identify the amount of discrimination and the nature of discrimination taking place,” he said.
Rahul says PM scared to raise questions on caste
The Congress leader said that there was a need to identify the share of wealth of SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities, women and the poor among the general castes, and their representation in the corporate, judiciary, media, armed forces and various other sectors.
He sought to know why the prime minister was scared to ask these questions.
“Why are we scared? Let us ask these questions. The only people who are reluctant to ask these questions are the people who are hiding the truth, and those who would benefit from this discrimination. Please understand what we are designing here is not simply caste census, it is designing a system of governance for the future of this country,” the Leader of the Opposition said.
Taking a dig at Modi, Rahul said that he simply cannot ignore discrimination like others, and he cannot lie.
“I cannot lie to Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, women stating that this country is fair. Other people may lie, I cannot lie,” he said, calling caste discrimination unique and the worst on the planet.
Commending the leadership of his party in the state, he said that he was committed to the caste census not just in the state but nationwide, taking Telangana as a role model.
Rahul also said that the party will iron out the shortcomings that could arise in the state.