The budget was being discussed in Parliament on Tuesday. In the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and BJP MP Anurag Thakur clashed with each other on the issue of caste census. Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav also jumped into the debate between the two. In fact, Rahul Gandhi had said in the Lok Sabha on Monday that Dalit and OBC castes are not included in those who make the country’s budget. Showing the photo of the Halwa Ceremony, he asked in the House how many people from backward and Dalit castes are there in it. Rahul had also demanded a caste census. On Tuesday, Anurag Thakur, while giving a speech in the Lok Sabha, said that the one who does not know the caste, talks about the census. Rahul Gandhi found this objectionable, he said that he was insulted. Akhilesh Yadav was also very angry, he said that how can someone’s caste be asked in the House. But this is the same thing that you will eat jaggery but avoid gulgula. That is, Rahul will do caste politics. In his tours, he will ask people’s caste, talk about caste census, but if someone asks his caste, he will get angry.
Will caste census be conducted without asking about caste?
Rahul Gandhi has to understand that when he is hesitant to reveal his caste because he belongs to an elite family, how will those people of the country, who are at the lower level in the so-called caste order, reveal their caste. Rahul Gandhi’s maternal grandfather, the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru used to use Pandit with his name. He had once shown his sacred thread when he got a chance. Whether it is Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi, they have always considered themselves Brahmins. Rahul Gandhi had described himself as a Kashmiri Kaul Brahmin in Pushkar and had described his gotra as Dattatreya. Now why Rahul Gandhi is feeling shy in revealing his caste is beyond understanding. Is Rahul afraid that by declaring himself a Brahmin, his Dalit-OBC politics will suffer a setback?
Those demanding caste census will have to understand that caste census will not be possible without telling the fact about which you feel insulted when asked. If Anurag Thakur wanted to know your caste, then you should have told your caste with self-respect. Samajwadi Party President and former Chief Minister of UP Akhilesh Yadav also got angry that will you ask the name of the caste? Finally, Jagdambika Pal, who was presiding over the House, had to say that no one will ask the name of the caste. At present, in a country where there is an attempt to know the caste as soon as two people are introduced, in a country where the name of caste is asked while distributing tickets in elections, in a country where ministers, posts in the organization etc. are still given on the basis of caste, it was not befitting for Akhilesh or Rahul Gandhi to get angry like this on asking about the caste.
Akhilesh getting angry on being asked about his caste is nothing but hypocrisy
The hypocrisy shown by Akhilesh Yadav today on the issue of revealing the name of caste does not suit him at least. Rahul Gandhi at least does not use his caste in his surname, so he may feel bad about revealing his caste once, but Akhilesh’s anger is not understandable. The person who has a caste surname in front of his name, the person whose politics has been based on caste, was trying to steal the show by showing double standards in the name of caste. Samajwadi Party had ousted Congress in Uttar Pradesh by doing politics in the name of Yadav and Muslim. Recently, during the Lok Sabha elections, the formula of PDA (Backward-Dalit and Minority) which was purely casteist, was also given by Akhilesh. While making Mata Prasad Pandey the leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, his caste was considered.
BJP came later. To destroy the MY formula (Muslim-Yadav) and to end caste politics, BJP started an even bigger experiment of Hindutva politics. Today BJP is implementing the same strategy. The order making it mandatory for shopkeepers on the Kanwar route to write their names was given on the basis of this logic.
Rahul’s duplicity on caste census
Leader of Opposition in the House Rahul Gandhi has been demanding caste census since before the Lok Sabha elections. Rahul Gandhi does not miss any opportunity to talk about caste census. The situation is such that Rahul has left behind Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Lalu Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, who were flag bearers of caste census. Whereas Congress has a history of always opposing caste census. Even during the UPA government in 2010, many leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Sharad Yadav had raised the demand for caste census in Parliament. At that time, big Congress leaders like P Chidambaram, Anand Sharma and Mukul Wasnik etc. had strongly opposed it.
In the history of the country, the credit for conducting the caste census in Bihar is given to Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar not only conducted the caste census but also brought the report before the public. Taking immediate action on the basis of this, he also gave reservation according to the share of castes. However, the Supreme Court has put a stay on the reservation increased by the Bihar government. On the contrary, Rahul Gandhi only demands caste census. Whereas he himself has not been able to start caste census in Congress-ruled states. While being the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel had even said that we did not conduct the caste census to make it public. Caste census has also been done in Karnataka and its report is also not being brought before the public.