"Caste census will happen in India": LoP Rahul Gandhi after Telangana Assembly passes Bill for 42% OBC reservation

New Delhi [India], March 18 (ANI): After the Telangana Assembly passed on Tuesday two bills to enhance reservation of Other Backward Classes to 42 per cent, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said it was "revolutionary" and said the Congress Party will ensure that Caste census in India.
"The Congress government has fulfilled its promise of increasing OBC reservations in Telangana. The actual number of OBC community obtained through scientific caste count in the state was accepted and a bill for 42 per cent reservation was passed in the Assembly to ensure their equal participation in education, employment and politics. This is indeed a revolutionary step towards social justice through which the wall of 50 per cent reservation in the state has also been demolished," Rahul Gandhi posted on X.
"By analysing the social and economic conditions of each community using the caste survey data, policies will be formulated that will ensure the well-being of all. The Telangana government has also formed an independent expert group for this. I have been continuously saying that only through X-ray - i.e. caste census - backward and deprived communities can get their due rights," he added.
Rahul Gandhi asserted that Telangana has shown the way, this is what the whole country needs.
"Caste census will definitely happen in India, we will get it done," the LoP said.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari said, "There is a very intellectual CM in that state... We will support the steps being taken in this regard."
Earlier on Monday, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy put the OBC population in the state at 56.36 per cent and stated that the government has resolved to ensure 42 per cent reservation for this group in education, jobs, and employment.
In a post on X, CM Reddy said, "Telangana is proud to lead the social revolution in #India It is my honour to announce the longest pending demand of the subaltern groups since Indian Independence, the yearning of our brothers and sisters belonging to the Backward Castes, on being counted & recognised in an official census - has finally found deliverance"
"Today, as the Leader of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, as Chief Minister, I solemnly declare that based on the most scientific, methodically rigorous, and excruciating efforts of our people, we can say that the OBCs population in #Telangana is 56.36 per cent," CM Reddy said.
"We are now resolving to ensure 42 per cent reservations for this Group in all walks of life - education, jobs and employment & political representation. Be on the right side of history & let each one of us become a champion of this historic move," CM Reddy said.
Reddy stated that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made the promise of enhancement of BC reservation to 42 per cent if Congress is voted to power. Soon after assuming power, the government launched the BC caste census on February 4, 2024, CM Reddy said, as per an official statement from his office.
CM Reddy said that the previous government sent a proposal to the Governor to increase BC reservation to 37 per cent, "This government is withdrawing the earlier proposal and sending a new proposal of 42 per cent reservation for BCs in education, employment and political opportunities." (ANI)