A government led by Congress will be conducting a caste census in the multiple nations as a part of the decadal census that was pending in 2021, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) said in a resolution that was adopted on 9th October to remove the reservation through legislation upto 50% and execute the reservation law on women to provide 33% quota in Lok Sabha and also at the Assemblies.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi named this as “historic resolution” and also stated the caste census as “not a political issue and it is just a matter of ensuring justice”, he declared that the States ruled by his party would be conducting the caste surveys on the Bihar lines. Gandhi expressed his thoughts about the caste census to the reporters at the press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters that caste survey is a very powerful and progressive step for the liberation of the poor people in the country. He asked the reporters to raise their hands to know about the Dalits and other backward classes (OBCs) in the group of journalists to highlight his point that the people belonging to weaker sections are not receiving their fair share.
Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling him incapable of conducting a caste census, he said that he would convince BJP forces to do the census, if not they had to stay away from doing that, so that Congress party can take over the responsibility of the survey. When he was questioned about the parties opinion on caste census, he said that the INDIA bloc agreed to do the caste census, he said that majority of the parties agreed to conduct the census, except those two or three parties who had different views on the topic. He said that, “We are not a communist system, we are all flexible to different perceptions”.
The press conference took place after the announcement of assembly elections by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in 5 states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram, this is considered to be the semifinals to face the 2024 general elections. Concerns were made on the Israel-Palestine conflict by the CWC and they restated their support for the Palestinian people over the issues relating to land, by calling for the immediate termination of fire and de-escalation of the current situation. The CWC planned for the 33% reservation for the women in the state legislative assemblies and the Lok Sabha as early as possible. The CWC reclaimed their old demand of immediate removal of the Manipur Chief Minister and considered this dissimilation of President’s Rule in the state, “as the initial step in resolving the ongoing crisis in the country ”.
