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By Sagay Raj: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the 2011 caste-based census data public and demanded the lifting of the 50 per cent cap on reservations. He was speaking at a public rally in Karnataka’s Kolar.
The Congress leader arrived in Karnataka for a two-day event to take part in a series of programmes in Kolar, Bengaluru and Bidar before flying back to Delhi.
REMOVE 50% CAP ON RESERVATION: RaGa
Speaking at the Kolar event, Rahul Gandhi demanded that the Modi government should release the caste census. He stated that the people of the country should be informed about the percentage of OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis.
“Prime Minister, you talk of OBCs. Make that data public. Let the nation know how many OBCs, Dalits and tribals are there in the country,” Gandhi said.
Rahul Gandhi further stated that if the Prime Minister is genuinely concerned about the welfare of OBCs and SC/STs, he should release the data and implement reservations based on the caste census. Otherwise, it would be akin to the Prime Minister insulting the OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasi people.
“If everyone has to become part of the development of the country, it is necessary to find out the population size of each community. Please release the caste census data so that the nation knows how much the population of OBCs and Dalits are. If you don’t do this, then it is an insult to the OBCs,” Gandhi added.
The Congress leader also asked the Modi-led Union government to remove the current 50 per cent reservation cap if he is really concerned about the OBCs,SC/STs.
Gandhi also pointed out that only 7 per cent of secretaries in the central government are from Dalit, tribal and OBC communities. He highlighted the need for representation from all communities in government positions, stating that secretaries are the backbone of the Government of India.
CONGRESS MUST AIM FOR 150 SEATS
Dwelling on his party’s prospects in the Karnataka Assembly election, Rahul Gandhi said there is a strong undercurrent in favour of Congress in poll-bound Karnataka and exhorted his leaders to ensure that the party wins at least 150 seats so that the next government is not “stolen” by a corrupt BJP.
“We are facing an election now in Karnataka and I am quite happy to see that there is a very strong undercurrent in favour of the Congress and I am confident that the party is going to win the election,” Gandhi said.
“We have to win the election with 150 seats because the BJP is a corrupt outfit. The BJP has a huge amount of money that they have stolen from the people of Karnataka and they will attempt to steal the next government as well,” he underlined.
Polling for the Karnataka Assembly election will take place on May 10. The results will be declared on May 13.
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