Gandhi-Vadras are being exposed by the Congress itself: BJP on Anand Sharma’s caste census letter

In response to senior party official Anand Sharma’s differing viewpoint on the caste census, the BJP subtly attacked Congressman Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, claiming that the party had exposed the Gandhi-Vadra leaders.

“Congress itself exposes Congress and is showing the mirror to Gandhi-Vadras and showing them their real face and the hypocrisy they are going ahead with, only to divide the country for a few votes, which they are never committed to,” said party national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla in an interview with news agency ANI. It’s a reality that Anand Sharma mentioned, right?

The head of the saffron movement further accused Rahul Gandhi of disdaining his predecessors, the erstwhile prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi, for their positions on the caste census. According to Poonawalla, Rahul Gandhi has faced criticism before for doing a U-turn, acting hypocritically, or disrepecting the opinions of his forebears.

“President Nehru halted the caste census, and Rajiv and Indira Gandhi opposed the Mandal Commission. ‘Jaat par a paat par, mohar lagegi hath par’ was their catchphrase. Rahul Gandhi has faced criticism before for doing a U-turn, acting hypocritically, and disrepecting the remarks made by his forebears. He said, “Even his friends like Akhilesh Yadav have repeatedly called out his hypocrisy.

Following Anand Sharma’s letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in which he expressed his dissatisfaction with Rahul Gandhi’s caste-census commitment made before to the Lok Sabha elections, Poonawalla made his comments.

Sharma said in his correspondence with Kharge that the Congress has never participated in or supported identity politics and that many people are concerned about the party’s shift from its traditional stance.

Sharma said, citing the opposition to caste-based identity politics expressed by Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, that “in my humble opinion, this will be misconstrued as disrespecting the legacy of Indira ji and Rajiv ji.” By default, it will also be seen as a criticism of the efforts made by succeeding Congress governments to empower the underprivileged. Additionally, it gives the Congress’s critics and political rivals a grip.”

Sharma said that the Grand Old Party’s election pledge, the caste census, a caste-by-caste tabulation of India’s people, cannot be a cure-all or a way to address the country’s persistent inequality and unemployment. “A fundamental departure from time honoured policy on this critical and sensitive subject has major long-term national implications,” the letter said.

Rahul Gandhi has stepped up his calls for a national caste census and pledged to carry it out should he win election. Gandhi brought up the matter several times during his just-completed Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

Kharge had previously declared that a caste census, known as “Ginati Karo,” would be conducted countrywide to evaluate each community’s socioeconomic and political standing. The Congress said that a constitutional change would be proposed to increase the 50% maximum on reservations for OBCs, SCs, and STs.

Notably, caste counts have recently been carried out in Karnataka and Bihar under the Mahagathbandhan government.