The demand for caste census is to help the backward and poor people, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Wednesday in poll-bound Chhattisgarh while announcing that the party-ruled Karnataka too would release the data of a caste survey on the lines of Bihar.
Mr. Kharge’s comment, made at “Bharose Ka Sammelan” in Kondatarai village of Raigarh district, is a counter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had accused the Congress of trying to “divide the society” on caste lines and asserting that the poor formed the biggest chunk of the population.
“We want a census of backward classes as it will reveal information on how many of them are very backward, how many of them are literate, who are economically backward, among others,” Mr. Kharge said, adding that such details would allow the government to formulate more effective policies.
“To help the poor and the backward class, we have demanded a caste census,” he added.
Modi’s stand
On Tuesday, addressing a public event in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district, Prime Minister Modi had questioned the Congress’ stance that the rights of a community/caste should be proportional to its numbers in the society. “I say that the largest population in this country is that of the poor. Therefore, for me the poor are the biggest [chunk of the] population and the welfare of the poor is my aim,” he had said.
Hitting back at the Prime Minister, Mr. Kharge referred to Mr. Modi as the ‘jhooton ki sardar or master of liars’ and referred to pre-election promises such as giving jobs to two crore people every year, doubling farm income and depositing ₹15 lakh in bank accounts as examples. “He is jhooton ka sardar. ...I have been hearing it for the past nine years,” the Congress chief said.
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Questioning the rationale of implementing the women’s reservation Bill after delimitation, Mr. Kharge accused the BJP and the RSS of being “anti-women” in their ideology. “If they are concerned about women, backward classes and the poor, they should implement the legislation on women’s reservation in the existing strength of Parliament,” he said.
Countering Mr. Modi’s jibe that the Congress had “outsourced” its functioning, Mr. Kharge said, “It is in fact Modi ji who has outsourced everything to [Gautam] Adani. We run our party with lakhs of leaders. But the Central government is run by two people: Modi ji and Home Minister Amit Shah.”
