My goal is to ensure representation for 90% of population, says Rahul
With reservation occupying the centre stage in the 2024 general election, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi accelerated his campaign for caste census saying he has the clarity that he is not in pursuit of power. Instead, he is working to ensure representation for 90% of the Indian population. At the same time, he chided the Congress for making mistakes in the past, exhorting his party to transform its politics.
Mr. Gandhi was speaking in Lucknow on Friday at the Rashtriya Samvidhan Sammelan organised by the Samruddha Bharat Foundation.
The Constitution, Mr.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav waves to supporters in Kannauj on Friday.
Gandhi said, has been a success but not an overarching one. It has failed to full the expectations of its founding members since its benets are not extended uniformly to all groups.
“95% of the Indian population that falls under the categories of backward communities, Dalits, Tribals, minorities and economically
weaker sections among the forward castes still do not have a corresponding share of representation in the media, judiciary, bureaucracy or the corporate world. In this backdrop, the caste census only seeks to establish “Hindustan ki sachai” (India’s truth). The BJP leaders are saying they will end reservation but the
Congress will not allow it, asserted Mr. Gandhi. “Reservation is the voice of 90% of India,” he said.
He branded Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “21st century monarch” who works according to his whim without paying heed to Parliament, his Cabinet or the Constitution. He reiterated that Mr. Modi will not return as Prime Minister.
“Political leaders stumble through their lives chasing power, spending every minute how to gain it, but without attaining clarity of political thought. I have got the clarity that I have to work to ensure representation for the 90% of our population. And this battle has to be fought with love, respect and strength”.
A day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow in Patna, Opposition Mahagathbandhan leaders on Saturday claimed that after three phases of the Lok Sabha elections involving 285 seats, it had become clear it would be “very di§cult for Modi to form government” and that “Modi will not be the Prime Minister” this time. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge also alleged that “the Modi government is a government of speaking lies”.
“There is huge resentment among the people against the BJP and this NDA government at the Centre. Unemployment and rising ination are the pressing issues for the people, which have become an unbearable load on them,” Mr. Kharge said.
“I have not seen a Prime Minister creating so much division in society. He [Mr. Modi] only loves the word ‘M’ — Muslim, mutton, mangalsutra and machhali (sh),” Mr. Kharge said in a reference to Mr. Modi’s speaking of them in his poll meetings.
‘Harassing people’
“He [Mr. Modi] does not answer people’s queries. They [the BJP] harass farmers, women, labourers and youth of the country and now they are harassing them in this election,” he added.
“The only thing they resort to is Hindu-Muslim [rhetoric] to continue their politics and divide people, but people this time have understood that this is not good for the country and they (the BJP) are doing all this only for votes,” Mr. Kharge said.
“Yesterday, in Maharashtra, he [Mr. Modi] said Pawar saheb (Sharad Pawar)