New Delhi: Top Opposition leaders on Monday strongly pitched for a caste census at a DMK-convened conference on social justice which also saw calls for forging unity to take on the BJP in the run-up to the 2024 general election.
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
The meeting saw a chorus from Opposition leaders demanding a caste census, with RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav making a strong case for caste census, citing that the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar has already announced a caste-based survey which has begun.
He said it was a concern that when governments in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand want to provide more reservation for OBCs, the governors stall it.
“This is done at the behest of whom, everyone knows,” Yadav said.
He urged the Opposition parties to come together setting aside their egos and said the best way to beat the BJP’s politics of ‘polarisation’ was through social justice-based politics.
Manoj Jha, also of the RJD, went to the extent of calling for a boycott of the census, if there is no caste census.
“We should give a call — no census, if no caste census,” he said.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien said there are still some parties that do not want to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and asserted that it is not the time to remain in the grey but it is time to be white or black.
He called on Andhra Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik to join efforts to take on the current government.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh also called for a caste census and alleged that the BJP is running away from it because it’s ideological mentor RSS wants the ‘varna system’ to continue.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said if a future of India is to be envisioned, then people, irrespective of their caste, class, religion and creed have to be taken along.
“For India to really shine, everyone needs to be taken along. We are all behind (MK) Stalin and support him in his efforts to make this India for everyone,” he said.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said while reservation for the backward classes is a significant step to open windows of opportunity for them, it has to be accompanied by economic development.
“Economic development cannot be restricted to a few. Over the last two years, 40.5 per cent of wealth generated has been cornered by one per cent of population. We have to fight the corporate communal nexus,” he said.
CPI general secretary D Raja also strongly pitched for a caste census and called for reservation in the private sector.
Other attendees included former Uttar Pradesh CM and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, former Union minister and senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily, Chhagan Bhujbal (Nationalist Congress Party), E T Muhammad Basheer (Indian Union Muslim League), K Keshava Rao (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) and MDMK leader Vaiko.
Bhujbal said parties should pass a resolution to conduct caste census along with the national census.
Basheer alleged that the BJP is working to remove the quota regime and the first step was by bringing in the EWS law and scrapping of 4 per cent quota for Muslims in Karnataka.
This is the second attempt of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to unite the Opposition, rallying around Stalin. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Tejashwi Yadav and Farooq Abdullah were among those who were part of the DMK chief’s 70th birthday celebrations recently.
