Madhya Pradesh Elections: Rahul Gandhi Promises Caste Census, Akhilesh Yadav Alleges Congress Of Stopping It

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed on Friday (10 November) that the caste census is a transformative measure that will bring about significant changes in people's lives. He emphasised that if his party comes into power, they will ensure the survey is conducted in Madhya Pradesh and on a national level.

“After coming to power in the state, the first thing to be done is conducting a caste census to know the exact number of OBCs in Madhya Pradesh. It is like an X-ray which will reveal all (number of other backward classes) and accordingly policies will be framed for their welfare,” he said during a rally in Satna.

Gandhi claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi previously identified himself as an OBC but stopped mentioning it after the Congress leader brought up the topic of conducting a caste census in the country.

Out of the 53 IAS officers in charge of Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi stated that only one is from the OBC category. According to him, this means that if the state's total budget is Rs 100, the OBC official has control over just 33 paisa or 0.03 per cent.

Notably, just a day before, Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP), criticised the Congress for not implementing the Mandal Commission's recommendations and for opposing the caste census.

During a press conference in Rajnagar, Chhatarpur, Yadav alleged that both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have started discussing the caste census in anticipation of the upcoming Assembly polls on 17 November.

"The Congress, which never talked about social justice, is doing so today. Who stopped the Mandal Commission recommendations? The Congress. Who stopped the caste census? The Congress," Yadav said.

Interestingly, both the SP and the Congress are part of the INDI Alliance. However, they have come at the loggerheads in Madhya Pradesh over no seat-sharing between the two parties.