Rahul Gandhi: 'No dalit, tribal, or OBC women in Miss India;' calls for caste census

Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh: On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, called once again for a nationwide caste census. He highlighted that women from Dalit, Tribal, and Other Backward Classes communities are missing from the Miss India pageant list.

Addressing a gathering at the Samvidhan Samman Sammelan in Prayagraj, Gandhi said, "I checked the list of Miss India to see if there would be any Dalit or tribal woman in it, but there was no women from Dalit, tribal or OBC."

Gandhi criticised the media for ignoring the issues faced by farmers and labourers, saying, "Still the media talks about dance, music, cricket, Bollywood but does not talk about farmers and labourers."

He promised that when Congress will form the government, they will conduct a caste census and remove the 50 percent cap on reservations. "We will conduct a caste census and the 50 per cent cap on the reservation which I don't accept will be removed...First, we should have the data before us regarding the participation of different castes in various institutions...Talks of reservation are always held but they never get a chance," he said.

Taking a dig at Narendra Modi-led Central government over its recent lateral entry advertisement saying, "Lateral entry ho jati hai, main aapko guarantee de raha hun lateral entry mein 90 per cent wala aapko koi nahi milega (I am guaranteeing you that you will not find anyone with from the 90 per cent in lateral entry) ," he said.

Gandhi argued that the INDIA alliance supports the caste census because it believes that 90 percent of the population, despite having the right skills and talent, is being left out. "90 per cent of the people are not a part of the system. They have the required skill, talent but they are not connected with the system. That's why we are demanding for a caste census."

He added that the caste census is crucial for making fair policies for the Congress and the INDIA alliance. "BJP leaders are saying that an OBC section will be given after caste census...We want the list of different communities. For us caste census is not just a census, it is a foundation for policy making...Just conducting a caste census is not enough, it is also important to understand how the wealth is being distributed...It is also important to find out how much is the participation of OBCs, Dalits, workers in the bureaucracy, judiciary, media?" he said.

Agencies