Hyderabad, Oct 19: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday promised to conduct the caste census in Telangana if his party is voted to power in the state.
Addressing corner meetings on the way from Bhupalpally to Peddapalli during the Congress’ ongoing ‘Vijayabheri’ Yatra in the state, where Assembly elections will be held on November 30, he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of not speaking on the issue.
Rahul Gandhi said the biggest issue in the country is with regard to caste census and termed it an “X-ray” that will throw light on the condition of Dalits, tribals and OBCs, and added it will also determine how the country’s funds are being distributed.
He asked the people to question Modi and KCR as to when they will conduct the caste census, and said if the Congress is voted to power in Telangana then the first work his party’s government will do is to take up “X-ray” in the state.
He said Congress-ruled states-Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Karnataka- have been told to conduct caste census.
“To fulfill the dreams of Telangana, caste census has to be conducted. I promise you, the Congress party will get the caste census done in Telangana,” Rahul Gandhi said.
The former Congress president said he had raised the issue of caste census in Parliament.
He said that only 90 top officers/ bureaucrats run the country and only three of them belong to the OBC (Other Backward Classes) category. “These (OBC) officers control just five per cent of the budget,” he claimed.
“My question is whether the OBCs population in the country is just five per cent,” he asked.
“We don’t want such an India. That’s why the first step is an “X-ray” of the country–the caste census. And a new chapter will be written in India’s progress,” he said. (PTI)
