'My mistake that caste census was not done in UPA tenure': Rahul Gandhi
He said he is correcting the mistake now by getting the census done, pointing to the exercise by the Congress-ruled Telangana which he dubbed as a model in social data collection which has created a "political earthquake" that is not visible.
At the AICC's OBC convention "Bhagidari Nyay Sammelan", which was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal, Siddaramaiah, Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, Bhupesh Baghel, Gaurav Gogoi among others, Rahul said when he looks back at his 21 years in politics, he has scored well on the issues of poor, SCs, STs, minorities and women, but faltered on those of the backward classes.
"I can see clearly that I faltered on one issue - the way I should have protected the OBC sections, I didn't do it.
The reason was at that time, I did not understand your issues deeply," he said. Rahul said it is easier to comprehend the challenges faced by dalits and tribals because of their history, but those of OBCs are "hidden".
"I regret if I knew your issues and history better, I would have got the caste census done. And I am going to correct it (the mistake) now."
Modi is no big problem, Rahul tells party meet
However, he argued it was a good mistake because a caste count then would not have yielded "the X-ray of society" as done by the Telangana census where now the participation of SC/ST/OBC at various levels of corporates in the state can be easily discerned.
At the same time, the Gandhi scion exhorted the backwards to take the reins of the Congress. Pointing to the dais with CM Siddaramaiah, Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, Bhupesh Baghel, V Narayanasamy, he said they are the 'icons' of the OBCs, but there is a need for more of them. At one point, Rahul said PM Narendra Modi is "all show and no substance", and does not pose a big challenge. He said after meeting, and being in the room, with Modi a few times, he has realised that the PM is a balloon inflated by the media.
The remark came when Rahul's rhetorical question - what is the biggest problem of the backward communities -- elicited a stray shout of Modi. "I tell you, you have hyped it in your mind. Modi is no big problem," he said.
Rahul said the problem of OBCs is that their history was killed by the RSS-BJP. "When you realise this, you would know that RSS is your biggest enemy," he added. He said BJP leaders claim they will remove English from India, but their own children study in the English medium.
Kharge took a swipe at Modi by asking if he would retire at 75 years of age, as suggested by the RSS. He said Modi became OBC only after he became the CM of Gujarat and added his community to the OBC list.
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