Modi calls himself OBC and then gets confused: Rahul Gandhi

RANCHI: Pressing on the importance of the caste census, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls himself OBC, and then gets confused, adding "Caste wise Census is important because if we want to give them participation then it is necessary to count them first."

Addressing a press conference in Gumla, Jharkhand, Rahul said that this question is not just of one person but of the people of India.

"PM calls himself OBC and then gets confused. Earlier he was saying that there are only two castes in India, the rich and the poor. 50 per cent of the population of India belongs to the OBC category, Dalit is 15 per cent and Adivasi is eight per cent. We want a caste census. This is important because if we want to give them participation then it is necessary to count them first," he said.

"This question is not just of one person but of the people of India. As an example, there are only three OBCs out of 90 IAS in Delhi. You will not find Dalits and tribals in the health and education system. Name any OBC owner among the top 100 corporate companies in India. You might have heard the names of Adani, Tata, and Birla but there is no name of any OBC. What kind of country would there be in India of injustice?" Rahul Gandhi added.

Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is currently in Jharkhand where in the past recent days, has seen major political developments from former CM Hemant Soren arrested by ED and Champai Soren forming the new government in the State.

Speaking on the INDIA bloc, Rahul Gandhi said that Mamata Banerjee is very much part of the alliance and it will not affect after the exit of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

"Mamata (Banerjee) is very much part of the INDIA alliance and most of the other members who are part of the INDIA alliance are still members of the INDIA alliance. Nitish Kumar has left the alliance and he's gone to the BJP. You can guess as to what the reasons are for him leaving. That's fine. We'll fight in Bihar as the INDIA alliance. So I don't agree that lots of our partners are not part of the alliance," he said.

"Our government in Jharkhand is tribal friendly government and BJP's government is anti-tribal. What they did to the land of the tribals, everyone is saying that it was very unfair," he added.

Rahul further asserted that this Yatra is against the injustice happening in the country. Social justice, economic injustice, issue of employment, wages are increasing, PSUs are being banned, caste census issue, 50 per cent reservation cap issue, injustice against women, farmers. We have come out to fight against all this.