A severe backlash has failed to deter Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from his fixation with the caste census and wealth redistribution agenda. On the 24th of April, the Gandhi scion reiterated his ‘X-ray’ remark saying that the Congress-led government would conduct a caste census and also scan the wealth held by different caste groups. He asserted that “no power can stop him from conducting caste census.”
Speaking at Samajik Nyay Sammelan on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi said: “Caste census is not politics for me, it is my life’s mission, and I will not leave it. No power can stop the caste census. As soon as the Congress government comes, we will first conduct a caste census. This is my guarantee. There is mention of x-ray (caste census) and income inequality created by Modi ji. The Congress will return a small amount of money to 90% of the people of the country from the Rs 16 lakh crore given to the 22 people by Narendra Modi…”
#WATCH | Delhi | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at an event says, " There is mention of x-ray (caste census) and income inequality created by Modi ji. The Congress will return a small amount of money to 90% of the people of the country from the Rs 16 lakh crore given to the 22… pic.twitter.com/zoHQzL8Mth
— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2024
Speaking on the Caste census at the Social justice conclave in Delhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says, "…Don't think the caste census is just a survey of castes. We will also add an economic and institutional survey to it…." https://t.co/sQi7MK1eh6
— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2024
“Be it the country’s Freedom Movement, Green Revolution, White Revolution and bank nationalisation, Congress has done all the revolutionary works and this [caste census] will be another such work,” Rahul Gandhi added.
This came in response to Prime Minister Modi’s criticism of the Congress manifesto that if elected, the party will redistribute wealth and provide reservations for Muslims under the SC, ST, and OCB quotas.
Notably, the Congress party has mentioned in its manifesto that the party will conduct a nationwide Socio-Economic and Caste Census and take affirmative action based on its findings.
“Congress will conduct a nationwide Socio-Economic and Caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions. Based on the data, we will strengthen the agenda for affirmative action,” the manifesto reads.
However, today Rahul Gandhi took a U-turn and said that he never talked about taking action against people after the wealth survey.
Notably, this is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi has made the X-ray remark. Since the last few months, the Gandhi prince has perpetually been in ‘Kaun jaat ho?’ mode. Be it labelling PM Modi as a ‘fake OBC’ or reportedly demanding the caste profile of the passengers in a flight, finding out the caste details of Indians has become his obsession alongside Adani bashing.
On the 21st of April, Congress’s PM aspirant said: “Nobody knows how many backwards, Dalits and tribals are there (in the country)? Those who form the biggest chunks of population don’t know their numbers. The BJP government does not want caste data. But we will get an X-ray of India done to ascertain the population of various caste groups. The country will change once the caste census is done.”
On 6th April he said: “We will first conduct a nationwide caste census to determine how many people belong to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and minorities. After that, we will conduct a financial and institutional survey in a historic step to ascertain the distribution of wealth.”
Evidently, Rahul Gandhi is repeating the decrepit script of the caste census with some changes here and there. In February this year, Rahul Gandhi had said: “The next step of social justice is conducting a caste census.”
In all his speeches, Rahul Gandhi has been calling his opprobrious caste X-ray poll promise as “revolutionary” and comparing it to the country’s freedom movement, green revolution, bank nationalisation etc.
The Congress clown prince’s caste census obsession stems from his sinister “Jitni aabadi utna haq” assertion. In October last year, Rahul Gandhi had asserted that ‘jitni abadi utna haq’ is the pledge of the Congress party. Rahul Gandhi has been taking a special interest in people’s caste after the findings of the caste census in Bihar were made public. Rahul Gandhi apparently wants to widen the caste divides in society and exploit the same for his political gains.
In addition to conducting a caste census, Rahul Gandhi seemingly has taken a page from the book of leftist communists and promised that Congress would conduct a financial and institutional survey to ascertain who is in possession of wealth in the country. He also said that based on the caste census data, Congress will redistribute the wealth to the backward castes and ‘minorities’ based on their population.
In his bid to consolidate vote-bank of ‘minorities’ and backward castes, Rahul Gandhi has no qualms in pushing the country towards a Venezuela and Cuba-like fate.
Rahul Gandhi has also hinted at bringing private sector reservations in the name of social justice as he said that after conducting the so-called ‘caste X-ray’ alongside economic and institutional survey, his government will decide what direction the country will be taken.
Rahul Gandhi’s emphasis on wealth redistribution and caste census based on his warped sense of social justice makes one wonder if the Gandhi scion is heavily influenced by the communist ideology and its cataclysmic policies. Be it Venezuela, Cuba, the Soviet Union or the Mao disaster in China, history suggests that ultra-leftist policies like wealth redistribution may initially appear ‘revolutionary’ but eventually leave the countries and societies in heaps of ruins and wails of agony.
Interestingly, the CPIM has also promised to introduce caste-based reservation in education and employment in the private sector if the party is elected to power.
On the 23rd of April, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hinted at the party bringing reservations in the private sector. Though the Congress leader did not make a clear announcement, in the warp and weft of words one can see through the sinister agenda.
In Kharge’s own words, “After coming to power, the INDIA alliance government will undertake a nation-wide ‘Caste-based Census’. We will also increase the existing upper limit of reservation. We will constitute a ‘Diversity Commission’ that will measure, monitor and promote diversity in public & private employment as well as education.”
Bringing caste reservations in private sector jobs would destroy meritocracy, and competitiveness and fuel resentment among caste groups not covered. Thus, it will not only affect the way the private sector operates but will also widen the caste divides. Rahul Gandhi or anyone advocating for caste reservations in a profit-centric and highly competitive private sector should understand that equality of opportunity is not equivalent to equality of outcomes.
As if the caste census and wealth redistribution plan were not enough, Overseas Congress leader and Rahul Gandhi’s advisor Sam Pitroda triggered a fresh controversy after suggesting that a US-like inheritance tax should be brought in India. Pitroda while explaining the inheritance tax claimed that in the US, 55% of the wealth is grabbed by the government when a person dies and the rest goes to the family, suggesting that Congress can bring a similar policy under its wealth redistribution promise.
Realising the possible ramifications, Sam Pitroda backtracked saying that he only cited inheritance tax as an example, meanwhile Congress party also distanced itself from Pitroda’s statement. From caste census, wealth redistribution, ‘Khatakhat handout scheme’ to private sector reservations, the Congress party is desperately pushing its pernicious agenda while claiming to give ‘Nyay’ (justice) to a section of people. On one hand, the Modi government is working on the agenda of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2026-27 and running welfare schemes for everyone without taking caste into consideration, Rahul Gandhi wants to push back India into the era where votes were sought and given on caste lines, freebies were squandered by governments among select caste or ‘minority’ groups and appeasement instead of development took the center stage.
