BJP-RSS fending off caste census: Rahul

There is no one from the deprived communities among the top 200 honchos in corporate India RAHUL GANDHI, LOP

- Subhash Pathak

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for deliberately avoiding caste census in the country and said that a caste census would give a new direction to development and facilitate a new political setup to take charge.

Rahul Gandhi, also a former Congress president, was speaking at a function to mark the birth anniversary of freedom fighter and social reformer Jaglal Choudhary. Born in Dalit (Pasi) family of Garkha village in Saran, Choudhary had quit his study of MBBS and joined the freedom movement on the call of Mahatma Gandhi. He is also known as Gandhi of Bihar and commands tremendous respect among his community.

Rahul Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his one-and-a-half-hour harangue in Lok Sabha did not make any reference about the caste census, because he did not want to let Dalits, backwards and tribals know their actual conditions. "I have been asking for the caste census to ensure their (Dalit, backwards and tribals) participation in the governance and not just representation," said the Congress leader.