Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday batted for the Dalits, tribals and the backward classes assuming leadership in every institution of the country and stressed that he would keep fighting for it.
He also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for trying to destroy the Constitution because it safeguarded the weaker sections of the society.
“I want to see the leadership of the Dalits, tribals and the backward classes in every institution of the country. I want to see their leadership in top the 10 companies of the country. I am fighting and will keep fighting for it,” Rahul said.
The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha was addressing the birth anniversary programme of freedom fighter and Dalit leader Jaglal Choudhary (February 5, 1895 – May 9, 1975) in Patna.
He had rushed to the state capital after casting his vote in the Delhi Assembly polls and committed a faux pas by calling Jaglal Choudhary as Jagat Choudhary. However, the audience pointed out the mistake and he corrected it.
Rahul pointed out that his thoughts stemmed from the fact that the participation of the Dalits, tribals and weaker sections of the society was absent from the country’s present power structure, system, institutions and sectors, including education, health, corporate, business, and judiciary.
Stressing that representation without participation was meaningless when it came to empowering the downtrodden in the true sense, the Congress leader asserted that the way out was to conduct the caste census to find the real percentage of various sections of the society and their participation.
“A caste census is like an X-ray to find out about the Dalits, tribals, backwards, minorities, general castes, and the poor among the general castes. The moment the real data comes, we will understand the reality of Hindustan. And then, a new kind of politics and development will start in the country,” Rahul said.
Rahul slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not mentioning “caste census” even once in his one-and-a-half-hour-long reply to the motion of thanks on the President’s address to the joint session of the Parliament on Tuesday.
“This was because the RSS, BJP, and Modi do not want to conduct the caste census. They believe that the Dalits, tribals and backwards cannot be crushed till the Constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar is there. So they want to destroy it,” the Congress leader said.
“They (RSS, BJP and Modi) fold hands before the Constitution and Ambedkar, but attack everything for which Ambedkar fought for. They end scholarships for the Dalits and kill Rohith Vemula, but fold hands before the Dalits,” he added.
Earlier, Rahul, on his arrival in Patna went to meet Congress legislature party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan at his residence to convey his condolences. The latter’s 17-year-old son had committed suicide earlier this week.
‘China’ jab
Later in the day, Rahul posted on X that China was 10 years ahead of India, with a robust industrial system.
“This gives them the confidence to challenge us. The only way to compete effectively with them is to build our production systems and for that we need vision and strategy,” Rahul said in the post.
The Congress leader pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his reply to the motion of thanks on the President Droupadi Murmu’s address, did not mention “Make in India”.
“The Prime Minister should acknowledge that ‘Make in India’, although a good initiative, is a failure. Manufacturing has fallen from 15.3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014 to 12.6 per cent – the lowest in the last 60 years,” Rahul said.
