Rahul Gandhi forced PM Modi's hand on caste census, claims Congress

NEW DELHI: As Congress toasted Rahul Gandhi for championing the "caste census" which forced Modi govt to accept the demand after 11 years of "stubborn refusal", the Gandhi scion Friday told Congress Working Committee the party should take up an issue and stick to it for sustained periods to bring about a change.
It is learnt Congress will centre stage its role in making caste enumeration a reality during ongoing "samvidhan bachao rallies" at state, district and assembly-levels. The party is also likely to mount a strong campaign for caste quotas in private educational institutions under Article 15(5), and a constitutional amendment to remove the 50% cap on reservations.
Calling for urgent action on the decennial census as the govt has not given a timeline or budget for conducting it, CWC sought an "immediate debate in Parliament". It cautioned that caste enumeration should not become "a jumla like women's quota".
CWC brainstormed over Centre's decision to enumerate caste in the next decennial census and celebrated Rahul as "strongest and most consistent voice demanding a nationwide caste census." The CWC resolution noted that Rahul raised the issue at 2022 Udaipur session and Raipur plenary in 2023. "In Parliament, in speeches across the country, and during the Bharat Jodo Yatras, Rahul has asserted that caste enumeration was essential for deepening social justice," it said.
With Congress exuding a sense of victory, Rahul is learnt to have told the gathering the party should adopt action-oriented programmes, so the campaigns yield results
Briefing reporters, Sachin Pilot and MP Saptgiri Ulaka took potshots at PM Modi by saying, "A big leader said 'bantenge to katenge' and called Congress 'urban naxal'. They called caste enumeration a poison for society. But under Congress and Rahul's pressure, Modi govt understood that public sentiment was with Congress."