New Delhi, March 21 Parliamentarian Praveen Khandelwal on Friday took a caustic jibe at Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi’s call for a nationwide caste census and termed it as a "desperate attempt to save his political career".
The BJP MP from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, speaking to IANS, took potshots at the Congress party as well as LoP Rahul Gandhi for making renewed pitches for a caste census while keeping it on the backburner, for decades under its rule.
“This is nothing but a political stunt by the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi. Congress ruled the country for decades but never implemented such a policy, rather stymied any efforts undertaken towards this. Today, Rahul is pushing for caste census. This is nothing but their desperate attempt to stay relevant in politics,” Praveen Khandelwal said.
He further said that due to repeated defeats in elections, the Congress sees itself on the fringes and by pushing for a caste census, it seeks to galvanise public support and in turn benefit from it.
Khandelwal’s sharp criticism comes in the backdrop of LoP Gandhi's claims that Babasaheb Ambedkar’s dream has remained "incomplete" and his party remains committed to realising it.
The LoP in Lok Sabha on Thursday reiterated his stand for the need for a caste census, terming it an important step to bring out the "truth of inequality". Taking to his social media account, Rahul Gandhi claimed that Babasaheb Ambedkar’s dream is "still incomplete" and also shared a video of his conversation with former UGC Chairman Sukhadeo Thorat.
“The fight for share that began 98 years ago continues. On 20 March 1927, Babasaheb Ambedkar directly challenged caste discrimination through the Mahad Satyagraha. We discussed the importance of this Satyagraha with Prof. Thorat, a well-known educationist, economist, expert on Dalit issues and member of the study committee on caste survey in Telangana,” Rahul Gandhi wrote on X and also shared the video.
Rahul Gandhi further stated, “Babasaheb's dream is still incomplete. His fight is not just about the past, it is also about today - we will fight it with all our might.”
Notably, the Congress government in Telangana passed two Bills in the state Assembly recently for reservations to OBCs in education, employment and local bodies to 42 per cent.
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