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By Mausami Singh: As the clamour for a caste census grows, the Congress suddenly seems to have thrown its hat in the ring, championing the social justice cause. The party’s newfound love is not without a reason as it feels it could be the glue that will bind regional satraps with it.
Caste card could be trump
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has already been trying to mobilize the opposition, meeting an array of leaders. After the Budget session, Kharge has been calling several opposition leaders, meeting some and some important meetings are on the cards.
It was a meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD scion Tejasvi Yadav that got the opposition camp abuzz.
Also Read | What’s behind caste census chorus? Can it be a challenge for PM Modi in 2024?
The JDU chief has made an early move by initiating the census as he hopes to drive a wedge into the BJP’s social engineering that has consolidated the non- yadav OBC votes for the party in successive elections. It has caught the BJP in a bind. According to Yadav, “the caste census will give a proper estimate of the poverty levels among communities and that it will help them in deciding what can be done for them and their families”.
Whether his Mandal 2.0 push can strike a chord with parties to the point of uniting them against the BJP is the big question.
Rahul Gandhi’s counter to BJP ‘OBC’ attack
Meanwhile, the Congress has actively taken up the issue, with Rahul Gandhi slamming the Modi government for its double speak. His enthusiasm stems from the fact that he has been put in the dock by the BJP for insulting the OBC community with his 2019 remark in Karnataka’s Kolar.
Also Read | Scrap 50% cap on quota, make caste census data public: Rahul Gandhi fires salvo at PM Modi in Karnataka
Having lost his membership of the Lok Sabha and facing an arduous legal battle, Rahul Gandhi not only gets to placate himself but also emerge as a champion for social justice on this issue.
Addressing a rally in Kolar after four years of making the controversial remark which cost him his MP seat, Rahul Gandhi slammed PM Modi and said: “Let’s talk about the OBCs. What did Narendra Modi do for the OBCs? Only take votes. The truth is if we talk about money and power distribution. The first step should be to find out the size of their population… When our government was in power, we did a socio-economic caste census in 2011 and made that data public so that the OBC population can be known. Remove the 50% reservation cap, give them rights according to their population and then we will see your intentions,” Rahul Gandhi said.
With the ‘jitni abadi utna haq (rights proportionate to population)’ slogan, the Congress has been carpet bombing attacks, mounting pressure on the government.
Also Read | Opposition’s clamour for caste census grows ahead of 2024 election
The party has two OBC chief ministers in Bupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot, and a Dalit party chief. This could well turn out to be a battle worth fighting for the party if it can impress the politically-crucial backward community as being its torch bearer.
Mallikarjun Kharge has taken the attack a step forward by writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asking his government to conduct the caste census.
“In the absence of an updated caste census, I am afraid a reliable data base, so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for the OBCs, is incomplete. This census is the responsibility of the Union government. We demand that it be done immediately and that a comprehensive caste census be made its integral part,” Kharge said in his letter.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel also wrote to the PM before the Congress pitched Kanhaiya Kumar as the ace attacker in a press conference.
Also Read | Mallikarjun Kharge writes to PM Modi, demands ‘up-to-date’ Caste Census
Mandal versus Kamandal
The plan could be to woo small regional outfits who have emerged out of traditional social justice outfits to assert the rights of any single caste or group.
Leaders like Mukesh Saini of Bihar’s Vikassheel Insaan party representing the Mallah’s, Sanjay Nishad’s NISHAD party, Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, Apna Dal led by Kurmis, or even Mohammad Ayub’s Peace Party of India that represent the Ansaris within the Muslims could possibly face the repercussions of this campaign.
It’s not only the regional leaders from the cow-belt that have voiced their support for the caste census. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin raised the pitch in his national conference on social justice earlier this month, stressing caste-based affirmative action.
“The introduction of a 10% quota for the economically weaker sections was a ‘deceitful measure’ bypassing the Constitution, which spoke of reservation only for socially and educationally backward sections,” he said.
Also Read | Bihar caste census starts today. What it means and why it is being done
Stalin mooted that social justice was not a state issue and could be a binding force and work as an antidote to the venom of discrimination, exclusion, untouchability, and slavery across the nation.
A meeting of top opposition leaders is on the cards. In a few days, Kharge will reach out to other critical players for the Congress, including Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee and BRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao.
Another regional satrap, Akhilesh Yadav, could play a pivotal role if he is convinced that he would not be disturbed in his home state.
The BJP, so far, has succeeded in breaking all political barriers to unite the OBCs under the Hindutva umbrella.
In a possible play out of the Mandal versus Kamandal politics, whether the caste card could potentially counter the strong Hindutva pitch of the BJP is anybody’s guess, but it surely could act as a catalyst to unify its rivals.
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