No force can stop caste census, says Rahul Gandhi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying those who call themselves ‘deshbhakt’ are scared of the ‘X-ray’ of caste census but “no force” can stop it.
Addressing the ‘Samajik Nyay Sammelan’ here, Gandhi said he is not interested in caste but in ‘nyay’ (justice) and asserted that it is his life’s mission to ensure justice for the 90 percent of the population against whom injustice has been done.
“As soon as our government is formed, the first thing that would be done is a caste census,” Gandhi said. He said the Congress manifesto talks about the X-ray and the income inequality created by Modi.
Modi has transferred ₹16 lakh crore to select business people and the Congress is going to return a small amount to the 90% of the population, he said.
“We have calculated... what we felt is justice and that help should be given, we put it down in the manifesto,” he said of the party’s guarantees mentioned in the manifesto.
Taking a swipe at the media for dubbing him a “non-serious” politician in the past, the former Congress chief cited his involvement with MGNREGA scheme, Land Acquisition Bill, Bhatta
Parsaul movement, Niyamgiri Hills matter, and said for the media all this was “non-serious” while talking about Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Virat Kohli was serious.
“Anybody who talks of the 90 per cent of the population is dubbed non-serious,” Gandhi said.
He said that he looked upon the stakeholders in the media industry and found that there was not a single OBC, Dalit or tribal anchor.
“So the loudspeaker is not with you. There is no representation in the media. Whose money goes into media, governments give money, whose money is it it comes in GST. This is the money of the 90 per cent people,” he said addressing the gathering largely comprising those belonging to Dalits, tribals and backward organisations. He said the same was the case with the judiciary, with out of 650 high court judges, only 100 belonging to the 90 per cent of the population.
Gandhi said in the top 200 firms of the country also, there was no Dalit, tribal or OBC.
“Narendra Modi has given Rs 16 lakh crore to 25 people from these firms. If you waive farmers’ loans 25 times, that money has been given by the prime minister to 25 people,” he alleged.