Rahul Gandhi not diving, but uniting India: Kharge defends call for caste census

New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Sunday that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's aim in advocating a caste census is to unite the people of India and not break the country, and slammed the BJP for "misleading the people" and "spreading hatred".

“Whenever Rahul Gandhi talks about the caste census, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah accuse him of breaking the country. On the contrary, whenever he speaks about the caste census, he (Rahul Gandhi) wants to bring the country and its people together," Kharge said while addressing a ‘Maha Rally’ to defend the Constitution at Ramleela Maidan here

He reiterated that Rahul Gandhi talks about uniting the country and not dividing, adding that the caste census will reveal who has what participation and share in the country.

"Based on caste census, Rahul Gandhi wants to do better work for the marginalised people of the country. The Constitution has given us the right to live with dignity and self-respect and has given us equal opportunity to progress. To get this right, caste census is very important in the country, which will ensure the right participation of the countrymen," the Congress President said.

He said to safeguard the Constitution and democracy, unity among the people and political parties is a must, adding that different partners of the INDIA bloc are fighting to safeguard the Constitution as well as the democracy.

"From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from the Bengal to Gujarat, unity is a must. If we do not stand together, we will not achieve our desired result which is to safeguard the Constitution and democracy," he said.

He added that it was India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who came up with the concept of adult franchise while Babasaheb Ambedkar fought against all odds to give equal rights to all the citizens, in which Congress supported him fully.

"Who gave you the Adult Franchise and equal rights? PM Modi or Congress? You have a problem - you keep forgetting. Everyone among you forgets who gave you equal rights. Nehru and Ambedkar only fought for your right," Kharge said.

He added that it is because of the visionary Constitution of Ambedkar that women got the equal right who can now claim to any constitutional position in the country.

"Be it President or Prime Minister or any other constitutional position, women have equal rights, which is a favour of Nehru and Ambedkar for our country," he said.

He said that if Ambedkar had not given people the right to vote in the form of the Constitution, people would not have been occupying big and powerful positions in the country.

He added that India as a society should not discriminate against anyone and stressed that all citizens are the same. “Our community (Dalits) has to first fight for our rights then only others can join and support us,” he said.

Criticising the ruling BJP, the Congress President said: “Modi-Shah don't even listen to their leader (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat ji. Tomorrow they will demolish the Red Fort, Taj Mahal, and Charminar and look for something underneath them! Today, everywhere in the country, surveyors are finding out where earlier there were temples and where there were mosques.”

He said that PM Modi is leaving no stone unturned in breaking the unity of the country. “Our fight is against the hatred they spread, for which political power is extremely necessary,” he said.

He added that but in 2023, RSS chief Bhagwat had said, 'Our aim was to build Ram temple, it is wrong to find a Shivalaya under every mosque.'

“When the BJP-RSS people are saying these things, then why is a dispute being created in the name of the surveys? We are all one. Modi says, 'If we are united, we are safe'.. but you are not letting us remain safe. The truth is that you are the one who cuts it and you are the one who distributes it too. Today, everywhere in the country, surveyors are finding out where earlier there were temples and where there were mosques,” said the Congress President.

He added that poverty, unemployment and inflation are increasing in the country, but still PM Modi does not pay attention to this. "Therefore, we will fight together to save the Constitution and democracy. We will conduct a caste census, remove the 50 per cent limit on the reservation and extend it further, only then people will get justice," he said.

Further slamming the BJP, Kharge said that they (BJP) only talk about morality but do all immoral things. “Sometimes they steal votes from EVM, sometimes they steal elected MLAs. Sometimes they steal pensions, sometimes they steal the MSP of farmers,” he said.

Kharge said that many times complaints are received that even after the elections are over, 99 per cent battery is still left in the EVM, and sometimes thousands of votes are cast in an hour, adding that it is very important that we come together to save democracy.