“How many of you are Dalit or OBC?” Rahul Gandhi asks a room full of journalists

Senior Congress leader and member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi during a press conference in Delhi asked journalists how many reporters present inside the room were from the backward community while highlighting the need for a caste census to ensure equitable distribution of wealth and the country’s assets. “Let me ask you here. How many Dalits are in this room?” Rahul Gandhi asked pointing towards the journalists. “Dekhiye; maza dekhiye (watch, this is fun). How many OBCs are in this room? Raise your hands," Gandhi continued. While none of the reporters raised their hands, one video journalist reportedly raised his in response to Gandhi’s query.

“I am not talking about you. Over here, how many Dalits are here”, pointing at the journalists seated infant of the dias, Gandhi insisted, “I am talking about these people”. The room burst into laughter but Gandhi maintained that it is a proof in point of his aspersions that backward-class people do not have adequate representation in important institutions of the country including the media. “So this is the question. How many Dalits, OBCs, and tribals are in India’s institutions? That is the question we are asking about institutions, wealth, assets, and population," Gandhi added, justifying his party's demand for the caste census.


Congress Working Committee (CWC) passed a resolution on Monday to support the idea of a nationwide caste census. Rahul Gandhi called it a “historic step towards the emancipation of the poor”. Gandhi had raised the issue during the Special Parliament session debate on the Women’s Reservation Bill. While he had supported the bill but had insisted that there was an under-representation of OBCs, as well as Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC/ST) in the bureaucracy, claiming that there were only three OBCs amongst ninety secretaries operating under the government of India.

“The PM is incapable of doing the caste census. Our three out of four CMs are from the OBC category. Out of 10 BJP CMs, only one CM is from the OBC category. How many BJP CMs are from the OBC category? The PM doesn’t work for the OBCs but to distract them from main issues”, said Gandhi on Monday in response to allegations of PM Modi that Congress was dividing the country. He stressed that the aim was to help the economically disadvantaged people. He reiterated his standpoint of two Indians- one for the rich industrialist and another for the rest of the country.

BJP has hit out at the Congress over its resolution and questioned if the same caste-based census would be done by Rajiv Gandhi when he was the Prime Minister. “Census comes within the purview of Central Government. In India, caste-based census was held before independence. After that, there was a conscious decision on how to have a census.
I would like to ask Rahul Gandhi that when the recommendations of the Mandal Commission were made in the 90s, what was the stand taken by his father? He vehemently opposed it in the Parliament...They were in power for so long. They never took up this responsibility...This is a tactic by the Congress to hide from the sin they committed in the past few days”, said Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Rahul Gandhi has expressed confidence that their CWC resolution will find support from a majority of the coalition partners within the INDIA alliance and are likely to endorse the notion of a nationwide caste census. “If someone disagrees we will work on that. We aren’t a fascist regime. I believe most of the stakeholders will support it”, Rahul Gandhi added.