Rahul: Two-third population required as development partners for India

AMETHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday asserted that his party would conduct a caste census if voted to power and this will prove to be an “X-ray of the country” and help map wealth resources to know who owns what.

Addressing the public during the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ here, Gandhi said, “The BJP and the RSS are spreading hatred. In the Hindustan of Narendra Modi, there is no place for the backward, Dalits, tribals and the poor people from the general category.” “In every Rs 100 of the country’s budget, the share of the two-thirds section of the population is merely Rs 6. The gross injustice being done to this section is making the country hollow from inside,” he added.

“Hence, in order to make the country strong, the Congress is going to take two revolutionary steps. The first will be to conduct a caste census, which will be an X-ray of the country. The second step will be the mapping of wealth resources, through which it will be known who owns what and how much,” Gandhi said.

Without making two-thirds of the country’s population a development partner, India’s prosperity is impossible, the Congress leader added.

In his address at the same event, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his guarantee is not for the farmers, laborers, Dalits, tribal and backward people of the country.

He also said that the Congress has promised the country’s farmers that it would bring a law that will guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani too was in the Amethi parliamentary constituency on Monday for a visit.

Speaking to media persons, Irani mocked Gandhi, claiming deserted streets welcomed the Congress leader when he arrived here as part of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and dared him to contest from Amethi alone in the Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi had represented Congress bastion Amethi in the Lok Sabha for 15 years before he was defeated by Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress leader, however, won from Wayanad, the second seat he contested in the elections.

“Rahul Gandhi considered Amethi as the center of power but did not provide service, that is why he was welcomed by the deserted streets of Amethi. Congress workers who welcomed Rahul Gandhi did not participate in his yatra due to which the Congress had to call workers from Sultanpur and Pratapgarh,” Irani said.