Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he welcomes the Government’s “sudden” decision to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming census after “11 years of opposing it” but it should give a timeline for its implementation. His comments came within hours of the government announcing that caste enumeration would be included in the forthcoming census exercise in a “transparent” manner.
Addressing a press conference here, the Congress leader said, “We support this (Government’s decision) completely but we want a timeline. We want to know by when it will be done.” Welcoming the Narendra Modi dispensation’s “sudden” decision to include caste enumeration in the census exercise after “11 years of opposing it”, he said, “This is the first step and Telangana is a model for caste census.”
While reiterating the demand for removing the 50 per cent cap on reservations, Gandhi said funds should be allocated for the caste census. “We want people’s census, not bureaucrats’ census,” he added. Opposition parties, including the Congress, have been demanding a nationwide caste census, making it a major election issue. Some states like Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka have conducted such surveys.
Addressing questions on Pakistan sponsored terrorism, Rahul said that those responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack must pay the price for what they have done and Prime Minister Modi must act strongly and not dilly dally on the action. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said those behind Pahalgam attack must pay the price and be made to realise they cannot do this to India. He said the Government has opposition’s 100 per cent support and Modi has to take action.
“The Prime Minister has to take action. Action has to be clear and strong. The prime minister must not dilly dally and needs to act. He can act in whatever time frame he thinks necessary,” said Rahul. The Congress MP also said he met the family of a victim of the Pahalgam attack in Kanpur and they want they should be given a martyr status.
