"Congress Exposing Congress": BJP As Party Leader Questions Caste Census

After Congress old-timer and a sitting member of its working committee, Anand Sharma, wrote to party president Mallikarjun Kharge questioning its campaign pitch around the promise of a nationwide caste census, the BJP accused the grand old party of 'hypocrisy'.

Speaking to news agency ANI on Thursday, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of 'disrespecting his predecessors' by putting forward the demand for a countrywide caste census, as the idea was opposed by former Prime Ministers Pt Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.

"The Congress itself has exposed the Congress by showing the mirror to the Gandhi-Vadras and baring their real faces and hypocrisy. Their sole agenda, going into the elections, is to divide the country for a few votes. It's an agenda they are going to people with to mine votes but one they will never commit themselves to fulfilling. Isn't that what Anand Sharma cited (in his letter to Congress president Kharge)? The idea of a caste census was debunked by Pt. Nehru while the Mandal Commission (which recommended caste quota in government jobs and education) was roundly opposed by Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Their slogan was 'jaat par na paat par, mohar lagegi hath par' (neither on caste nor religion, votes will be cast in favour of the Congress). This isn't the first time Rahul Gandhi is being called out from within the Congress for taking a U-turn, showing hypocrisy, and disrespecting what his predecessors had preached," the BJP spokesman told ANI.

"Even his allies such as (Samajwadi Party chief) Akhilesh Yadav have called out his hypocrisy time and again," Mr Poonawala added.

In his letter to Mr Kharge, Mr Sharma said the party had "never engaged in nor endorsed identity politics", adding that the departure from the 'historic position' was a matter of concern for many in the party.

Mr Sharma, in his letter, also quoted Indira, saying her clarion call in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections was "Na jaat par na paat par, Mohar lagegi Haath par", while also invoking Rajiv Gandhi's September 1990 speech in the Lok Sabha during a discussion on the Mandal Commission report, in which he said, "We have problems if caste is defined to enshrine casteism in our country ..."

A caste census, Mr Sharma stated, "cannot be a panacea nor a solution for unemployment and prevailing inequalities".

"Parties of the alliance also include those which have pursued caste-based politics for long. However, the Congress policy on social justice is based on a mature and informed understanding of the complexities of Indian society. Leaders of the national movement were firmly committed to emancipating those who had historically suffered denial and discrimination. Affirmative action, as enshrined in the Constitution, provides for reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. That reflects the collective wisdom of the framers of the Indian Constitution. Decades later, OBCs were included as a special category and accordingly given the benefit of reservations. That has found acceptance across the country now for 34 years," the Congress old-timer wrote further in his letter to the party president.

Rahul has been vocal about his demand for a nationwide caste census, making it the centrepiece of the Congress's campaign during the Assembly elections late last year and in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

Responding to Mr Sharma's letter to Kharge, Congress leader Pawan Khera said, "Anand Sharma is a senior leader and also a member of the CWC. If he wanted to discuss anything, he could have brought it up within the four walls of a party forum."

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