New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's strategy to bring the Caste Census issue to the centre stage during the Parliament session has succeeded with OBC politics becoming a major bone of contention between the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc.
According to party insiders, the move provoked the NDA to fall into the trap, united the INDIA bloc, provided the opposition yet another chance to target the government and may cause unease within the ruling coalition.
According to party insiders, a strategy session chaired by Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi discussed ways to scale up the protests against the government over the remaining days of the Parliament session and may lead to party MPs bringing a Private Members bill over Caste Census to flag the issue.
Over the past days, as Rahul Gandhi stressed on the need for a caste census, a miffed NDA committed a blunder in its counter to the LoP.
BJP MP Anurag Thakur questioned Rahul Gandhi's caste and invited a sharp reaction from ally SP MP Akhilesh Yadav. Rahul too scored political points immediately by saying that he was ready to face insult for talking about the rights of the marginalised sections of society.
Later, PM Narendra Modi backing Thakur's speech further provided ammunition to the opposition which has made a breach of privilege complaint against the premier to raise the issue of constitutional propriety.
All this while the focus of political discourse has shifted from the union budget to caste census, a major poll plank of Rahul Gandhi during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign that was aimed to counter the BJP's Hindutva politics. The grand old party will now further expand its protests outside the parliament.
"The BJP has now stooped down to abusing MPs in opposing caste census. The saffron party is bragging over Anurag Thakur's comments rather than being sorry. The PM sharing his MPs speech on social media shows their mindset. The caste census is a life and death issue for the OBC and our leader Rahul Gandhi is committed for it. Let us see for how long they will abuse us," All India Congress Committee (AICC) functionary Chandan Yadav told ETV Bharat.
"The caste census is needed so that government policies can be redesigned to distribute social welfare funds more effectively and judiciously among the communities. Rahul Gandhi belongs to a family that has sacrificed for the country. Asking about his caste is not only wrong but demeaning as well," he said.
According to Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Kamleshwar Patel, BJP MP Anurag Thakur targeting Rahul Gandhi was part of a plan.
"It was not a casual remark but a calculated one from Anurag Thakur who must have been asked by his party to say that. It shows their mindset and opposition to the caste census. They have been targeting our leaders for long but Congress will continue to get justice for all sections of society. A leader has no caste. The caste census issue has united the opposition and is now being talked about by the people. We will further spread the message over the coming days," Patel told ETV Bharat.
According to the AICC functionary, the Congress always supported the social welfare of OBC. "The Mandal Commission recommendations were accepted by the previous VP Singh government but the same were implemented by the PV Narasimha Rao government. The previous UPA government implemented the OBC quota in central educational institutes. Shouldn't the Congress be credited for that," he added.
