In his first public meeting ahead of assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government in the state vehemently, focusing on OBC politics including caste census, corruption and farmers’ issues.
Gandhi went to the extent of saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, contrary to his (Modi’s) claims, does not run a government for OBCs. “Rather, he does the work given to him by the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). He distracts your attention and spreads violence and hatred,” Gandhi said at the public meeting in Polaykala of Shajapur district. The event was held as part of the ongoing ‘Jan Aakrosh Yatra’ of the Congress in the state.
Much of Gandhi’s speech remained focused on the issue of caste census and OBC politics as he tried to underline that the Modi government has short shrifted the huge community by keeping their actual numbers in the dark.
While the Congress leadership and Gandhi have been taking up the issue of caste census for quite some time now, the focus on the issue in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh makes sense because the state has almost 52 per cent OBC population. A report by the State OBC Commission last year said that there were 48 per cent OBC voters in the state.
With the BJP focusing on the 49 per cent women voters through its schemes like the Ladli Behna, the Congress probably feels it crucial to address another major chunk of voters in the state in the form of OBCs. Though a large section of the OBC community has traditionally been considered BJP supporters, the issue of OBC reservation has made quite an impact in the state with the different sections of the OBC community coming together to demand reservation equivalent to population.
The Congress’s focus on the community became clearer when Rahul Gandhi, on the prompting of MP Congress chief Kamal Nath, came back after finishing his speech to say that the Congress government had passed a bill for 27 per cent OBC quota in the state, but the BJP retracted it (the matter is in the court).
Gandhi said that the three out of four Congress chief ministers in the country were OBCs and went on to ask that if indeed Modi’s government meant welfare of OBCs, then why only three of the 90 secretaries running the government of India were OBCs. Why were there no OBC officers in the cabinet secretariat three or four years ago, he asked.
He said that for the name sake, there are OBC members of parliaments and MLAs in the country, but none of them are asked anything when welfare plans and schemes are made, because everything—how much money is to be spent for health, education, rural employment guarantee scheme or right to food schemes—is decided by the 90 secretaries. But out of the approximately 45 lakh crores budget, only 5 per cent is in the control of the three OBC secretaries, he said.
“Is there only 5 per cent of the OBC population in the country? No, there are at least 50 per cent OBCs in the country. Then why don't they have any control over the budget? When I ask all these questions, the BJP people start trembling. Modi ji runs away, (Home minister) Amit Shah begins talking of something else and the Hindu-Muslim issue is raked up and they try to spread hatred,” Gandhi said.
“But the biggest issue before the country today is the caste census. When our government is formed at the Centre, the first thing we will do is to conduct a caste census and make the numbers of different communities public. Actually, the Congress government had conducted the caste census and Narendra Modi has the entire data, but he does not want the OBC people to know their actual number. He does not want to give them true participation in power. He puts your people in the assembly but silences them,” he added.
Gandhi further said, “But we want to ensure participation for all, give a fair price of crops to the farmers. This is India for everyone; not of two or three industrialists. So our first work will be to conduct a caste census and as soon as our government comes, we will let the country know the data on different castes. We truly want to give power to the people and therefore we will get X-Ray, MRI of India conducted (in reference to diagnostic tests being important to pinpoint a disease).”
Earlier, Gandhi also mentioned that while the Congress supported women’s reservation bill wholeheartedly, it asked the government why there were riders of a census/survey and delimitation of seats before reservation was implemented. Also, the Congress had asked why the bill did not have provisions of OBC reservation (within reservation), Gandhi said.
‘MP made epicenter of corruption’
At the beginning of his speech, Gandhi said that during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he met many youth, women and farmers and everyone gave him an indication that Madhya Pradesh had been made an epicenter of corruption by the BJP government. “The extent of corruption that the BJP is doing in Madhya Pradesh is being done nowhere in the country. They are usurping even the funds meant for mid-day meals and school uniforms of the children. They stole money meant for the Mahakal corridor. Everyone knows about the Vyapam scam; how it destroyed the future of almost one crore youth. MBBS seats are sold and papers are leaked. This is the rule of BJP in Madhya Pradesh,” he said.
Farmers’ issues
Taking up the issues of farmers, he said that they were not getting fair price for their produce in MP and gave the example of Chhattisgarh where the Congress government was giving Rs 2,500 per quintal of price for paddy to farmers. “Everyday three farmers die by suicide in Madhya Pradesh; in the past 18 years, 18,000 have died. But the BJP works only for selected people. For the first time, GST was put on farmers and black laws were framed. Farmers rose in protest across the nation. Modi ji said that the laws were for the welfare of farmers. Then why was their protest? Modi ji thought farmers won’t understand the reality that the laws were meant for the benefit of 2-3 billionaires.
Indicates Kamal Nath as chief minister
Gandhi said that the Congress wants to work for the poor and weaker sections. In Karnataka women were getting free bus rides; in Chhattisgarh, farm loans were waived and fair price for produce given; in Rajasthan free surgeries, treatment and medicines were being provided as a right. Indicating that Kamal Nath was the party’s choice as chief minister in MP, Gandhi said “We want to run a government for the people, not for one or two industrialists. Kamal Nath can do this work. He had started doing it (in previous tenure) and he will be completing the work.”
