NEW DELHI: As the caste census started in Telangana, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used the opportunity to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi by saying ‘in Maharashtra soon’.
Sharing a video of the ongoing caste census in Telangana on X, Rahul Gandhi said that Congress will break the wall of 50% on reservation.
“Modi ji, caste census has started in Telangana from today. We will use the data obtained from this to formulate policies for the development of every section of the state. Soon this will happen in Maharashtra also. Everyone knows that the BJP does not want to conduct a comprehensive caste census in the country. I want to tell Modiji clearly- you cannot stop the caste census across the country. We will pass the caste census in this parliament and break the wall of 50% on reservation,” he said in a post on X.
Before starting of the caste census, Jairam Ramesh said that this will mark a ‘historic and revolutionary’ moment for the Telangana.
Taking to his official handle on X, Jairam Ramesh posted, “The Congress Government in Telangana will begin its caste-based survey today. 80,000 ennumerators will be going door to door over the next few weeks, covering over 1.17 crore households across 33 districts.”
“This is the first time a caste-based survey is being conducted by the government in Telangana since 1931. It is a historic, revolutionary moment – one that is a realization of the Telangana Movement’s aspirations for the state and a fulfilment of one of the key ideals of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution,” Jairam Ramesh’s post read.
He posted, “It is also, as Rahul Gandhi noted in Hyderabad earlier this week, a blueprint for the national caste census that the INDIA coalition’s Government will conduct. This census, and the lifting of the Supreme Court’s arbitrary ceiling of 50 per cent on reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes are central to @INCIndia’s vision for the country.”
“We are committed to the idea of social, political, and economic justice in India, as laid out in our Constitution and as envisioned by India’s founding fathers,” said Jairam Ramesh.