In the face of BJP’s campaign labelling the Congress as “anti-OBC”, the party is gearing up for an outreach programme, roping in other Opposition parties to mount a joint offensive against the BJP with the Narendra Modi government’s failure to conduct caste census as the central rallying call.
Sources said that the plan is currently at a nascent stage and that talks are going on with leadership of Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United) among others. The last caste-census was done in 1931 and all government policies are based on this outdated data.
Since former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha on March 26, a day after he was convicted in a criminal defamation case in a Surat court for an election-time jibe he made in 2019 in Kolar, Karnataka, ‘how come all of these thieves have Modi in their names’ the BJP has fielded its rank and file to attack Mr. Gandhi, including announcing a nationwide movement from April 6th to April 14 by its OBC Morcha to expose Congress’s alleged “anti-OBC” stand.
The Congress, especially Mr. Gandhi, who is reluctant to engage on the caste question, insists that the BJP’s narrative against them is “artificial”. In a recent exclusive interview to The Hindu, party General Secretary K C Vengopal had said, “It is absolutely ludicrous for a political party that cannot conduct caste census despite persistent demand to claim love for OBCs. Of the three Congress Chief Ministers, two are from the OBC community (Rajasthan- Ashok Gehlot & Chhattisgarh- Bhupesh Baghel). Our campaign in Karnataka is led by Siddaramiah, a stalwart from the OBC community. So, we don’t really need to be lectured by anyone.”
Party’s national coordinator for SC, ST, OBC and minorities Department K Raju though refusing to comment on whether the party should have shown alacrity in countering the BJP on the OBC question, produces a long list of pro-OBC credentials. Starting from 1977, Mr. Raju said that it was Congress government under ND Tiwari in Uttar Pradesh, that introduced reservation for OBC among other seven states. “VP Singh government that adopted the Mandal Commission report in August 1990, collapsed soon after and it fell upon the Congress led P Narsimha Rao government to actually implement the reservation. In 2012 Congress minister Arjun Singh introduced OBC reservation in higher education institutions- this was Mandal 2.0,” he told The Hindu.
On the other hand, he said, BJP’s record on pro-OBC policies has been dismal. “They have failed to accede to demand to have a ministry for OBC welfare. As on date, none of the secretary-level officers in the government are from the OBC community. OBC candidate’s entry in central government jobs has also been largely restricted in the last eight-years. As of now out of 32.5 lakh government employees only seven lakhs are OBCs and out of this 6.4 lakh are in group C. This shows their sincerity,” he added.
He also underlined that the party will go to the people. “We have cold facts unlike the BJP’s rhetoric.
But within the party, many OBC leaders feel that the party has been far too slow to rebut the BJP. The Bharat Jodo Yatra, too, was a failed opportunity, since Mr. Gandhi, who was leading the march, spoke about the larger questions of “harmony” and “democracy”, without any direct reference to the question of caste. The Congress, they feel, failed to bat on offensive even after the party in its recent plenary at Raipur passed resolution demanding caste-census. Is it too late and too little, many within the party wonder.
