Ever since Congress managed to outdo its expectations and win 99 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi has been amping up caste rhetoric to polarise the voters back in India and chip away at the BJP’s Hindu consolidation vote share.
To this end, Mr Gandhi routinely trots out absolute lies and falsehoods that the BJP is averse to reservations and that it would ‘alter’ the constitution—something which it bandied around quite successfully during the Lok Sabha elections campaign—taking gullible votaries on a ride by appealing to their baser instincts.
However, during his visit to the United States, the ‘aura’ that the Congress ecosystem painstakingly created around Rahul Gandhi seemed to have evaporated as the public realised he was still the “Pappu” of Indian politics. From his ‘ending reservations’ comments to making a flip flop and going overboard with ‘increasing the reservation quota beyond 50 per cent’ and referring to the caste of social media influencers, it revealed that the Gandhi scion has only weapon in his quiver to take on the Modi government, and that is, dividing the country along the caste lines.
While addressing students at Georgetown University on Monday, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, once again called for a caste census. He emphasised that the Congress party seeks to understand the socio-economic status of lower castes in India. Additionally, he stated that the Congress would consider ending reservations only when India becomes a “just and equal society.”
Back in India, outrage swept the Indian political landscape as his opponents laid into him for his remarks on ending the reservations. While Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati alleged that Congress itself had done nothing for lower castes despite being in power for decades, the BJP said the Congress leader’s comments came out of frustration. Lok Janshakti Party (LJP-Ram Vilas)’s Chirag Paswan, a BJP ally that is a key constituent in the Centre’s ruling coalition, said Gandhi’s statements had exposed the Congress’ mindset, and stressed that even thinking of ending the quota system was an anti-constitutional move.
After backlash, Rahul quickly swivelled and took a U-turn as he promised to remove the 50 per cent reservation cap limit.
“I have been repeatedly saying that we are going to increase reservations beyond 50 per cent. We want to understand what’s going on and then we are going to apply a series of policies to correct it and reservation is one of them,” he said in an interview in the US.
Whether it is constitutionally possible and acceptable? Whether such a decision will depend on the famed ‘caste census’ he keeps yapping about? Whether such a decision will spark protests and create a law and order problem? And most importantly, Whether such a move will prove beneficial to the reserved categories?
Mr Gandhi didn’t deign to elaborate on these questions, most likely because he hadn’t yet thought acutely about whether the country needed it or not and, if yes, how he would make it possible, and the consequences of such polarising political moves. Perhaps Gandhi has yet to firm up his stance on reservations and caste census, which is why there have been conflicting messages about them.
Mr Gandhi keeps harping about conducting a caste census, but he has displayed little resolve and determination in carrying it out in Congress-ruled states, which, as per his understanding, would help the state governments allocate resources and formulate policies as per caste composition.
All these instances point to an appalling level of unpreparedness on Gandhi’s part over an issue as profound as caste identity and reservations. In fact, we have often been witness to incidents that demonstrate Mr Gandhi’s poor understanding of the issue, most notably with his recent remarks about the caste of social media influencers.
In a public event in the United States, Rahul Gandhi claimed that most social media influencers came from the upper caste. While there is no credible tool or renowned methodology to identify castes of social media influencers, Gandhi’s utterances reveal his shallow grasp of the matter, undermining an issue that holds extensive significance for a large section of society, especially the Dalits and the OBCs.
Before this, Gandhi had spoken about the poor representation of Dalits, Tribals, and OBCs in beauty pageant contests, insisting that ’90 per cent” of the population lacked representation.
Speaking at the ‘Samvidhan Samman Sammelan’ in Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi stated, “I reviewed the Miss India list and found no Dalit, Adivasi, or OBC women. Some may talk about cricket or Bollywood, but no one highlights professions like cobblers or plumbers. Even the top media anchors are not from the 90 per cent. We want to know how many people in institutions, corporations, Bollywood, and Miss India come from this 90 per cent. My point is that the 90 per cent have not had participation, and this needs to be examined.”
Such ramblings have now become a hallmark of Rahul Gandhi, who keeps making such controversial remarks aimed at stoking the cauldron of caste politics even if they sound ludicrous, hoping that his divisive agenda will stir resentment among the various caste groups within the Hindu fold, engendering anger against the current regime, and in the process, revive his political fortunes. Gandhi has yet to present a clear roadmap or outline the goals his party aims to achieve with a caste census. Additionally, he has not explained how they plan to increase the representation of the reserved classes without negatively affecting the general category.
His incoherent remarks reveal a startling lack of a cohesive vision for uniting a society made up of diverse caste groups and religious communities, or for promoting their welfare. He also fails to propose solutions for improving the situation of economically weaker sections within the general castes. For Mr Gandhi, 90 per cent of the country consists of the reserved classes, while the remaining 10 per cent are portrayed as oppressors exploiting the vulnerable and impoverished.
Though Mr Gandhi may try to present his caste rhetoric as a part of his “Mohabbat Ki Dukaan” initiative to gain approval from his supporters, in reality, it pushes a divisive agenda that risks deepening existing societal fractures and potentially dismantling the social fabric of the nation.
Merely uttering ‘caste census’ and projecting concerns for the reserved classes isn’t sufficient to alleviate their condition. Sadly, Rahul Gandhi’s caste bluster reveals he has no concrete plan and vision to help the SCs, STs, and OBCs. He is simply relying on the divisive agenda to break the Hindu consolidation and once again establish Congress in the corridors of power, after having been out for over a decade now.
