The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday slammed the Congress for trying to give credit for the Centre’s announcement to include caste enumeration with the national census to LoP Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, saying the decision highlights the difference between “empty slogans and true intentions”.

The BJP-led NDA government’s decision to include caste enumeration in the next census came as a surprising move ahead of the Bihar assembly elections.

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As soon as the government announced the decision, a wave of celebration swept through the Congress, with its leaders giving credit to Rahul Gandhi, who had long been raising this demand on every platform, be it Parliament or his election rallies.

Gandhi welcomed the decision and urged the government to provide a clear timeline for its implementation.

A large poster was also put up outside the Congress headquarters, crediting Rahul Gandhi for “forcing the government” to act on the caste census. “Jhukti hai duniya, Jhukane wala chahiye…” (The world bows—if there’s someone who can make it),” read a line on the poster.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, while addressing a press conference on Thursday, said: “Yesterday, when this decision was taken, some people got agitated. They were saying ‘sarkar unki hai, system hamara hai’… Who was in control of the government and the system in 1951?

He further stated: “It was well known that if Babasaheb and Mahatma Gandhi were not there in the country, if there was no issue of social sensitivity in Nehru’s mind, if the Constituent Assembly need not be consulted, then there would not have been reservations in the country today. Nehru was a staunch opponent of caste-based reservation… Who kept the Mandal Commission report locked in the dungeon for 10 years?… In the government led by VP Singh, the Mandal Commission report was implemented on our (BJP) suggestion…”

Pradhan also accused former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi of giving long speeches against the OBC reservation.

“What can we expect from those whose social justice is limited to justice for their families? The Congress Party has always been against the deprived, tribal, Dalit, and backwards classes of the country. That is why their hypocrisy is visible today,” he added.

He claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had made the announcement regarding this a year ago.

“This policy decision has been taken for the first time since the first census after Independence, that, along with the census, a caste enumeration exercise will happen. The census was supposed to happen in 2021, but had to be put on hold due to COVID-19. The Home Minister (Amit Shah) had talked about this decision a year earlier. This shows that the PM Modi-led NDA government is committed to giving the rights to the backward sections of society,” Pradhan added.