Maha Opposition credits Rahul Gandhi for govt’s move on caste census

Opposition leaders in Maharashtra gave credit to Leader of the Opposition of the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday after the Central government announced that a caste census would be conducted.

“We welcome the decision to conduct a caste wise census. The Congress along with Rahul Gandhi had consistently demanded this. We have consistently presented the position that the greater the number, the greater should be the share. However, what is the reason for taking this decision suddenly after so much opposition from the ruling party? After all, earlier, the government had submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that the government cannot conduct a caste wise census. Now, at the Cabinet Meeting on Political Affairs, they announced that they will conduct a caste wise census. It seems that they took this
decision keeping the Bihar assembly elections in mind,” Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar said.

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However, VBA president Prakash Ambedkar also criticised the government’s move, calling it a “fraudulent decision”. “The government has announced that it will conduct a caste census but there is no clarity about when exactly it will be conducted. It also contradicts the central government’s own submission before the Supreme Court that a caste census is not possible. I suspect that this decision has been announced to divert the people’s attention away from the Pahalgam terror attack,” Ambedkar said.

Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut also said that the credit for the Modi government announcing that a caste-based census would be carried out, should go to Rahul Gandhi.

“The credit for the government’s announcement to conduct the caste census goes to Rahul Gandhi who consistently brought up the issue. We welcome the government’s decision. However, by announcing this move, the government aims to divert attention from the criticism it faced after the Pahalgam terror attack. Also, with elections approaching in Bihar and West Bengal, the government felt pressured to address the caste census issue,” Raut said.

The Ajit Pawar-led NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who is also a prominent OBC leader in Maharashtra, said, “I am pleased with the decision, since a long-pending demand has been fulfilled. The last caste census was carried out in 1931, and since Independence, several leaders had advocated the need for a caste census. In 2010, along with Gopinath Munde of the BJP and Sameer Bhujbal of the NCP, around 100 MPs had proposed a resolution regarding a caste census. Even the Union government had conducted a socio-economic survey but the outcome was not made public. On January 8, 2020, the Maharashtra assembly unanimously passed a resolution for a caste census. Now, after this government’s statement about caste census, OBCs and nomadic tribes will get justice and political reservations can also be restored,” Bhujbal said.

Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena spokesperson Sushma Andhare urged the government to be transparent about the process. “This announcement should not turn into a mere assurance with an eye on the Bihar assembly polls. The government should explain when this census will begin and disclose the process,” Sushma Andhare stated.