"Congress was never in favour of BC census...": Union Minister G Kishan Reddy slams Rahul Gandhi over caste census remarks

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 3 (ANI): Union Minister and Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy on Saturday criticised Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi's comments on the caste census, stating that the Congress party was never in favor of conducting a Backward Classes (BC) census.
Reddy emphasised that there is a significant difference between a survey and a census, highlighting the lack of detail and data in the survey conducted by the Congress.
Reddy pointed out that a survey and a census are two distinct concepts, with a census providing comprehensive data and insights. He argued that the Congress's BC survey falls short of being a full-fledged census.
Reddy assured that the BJP would not conduct a caste census in the same manner as the Congress's survey. He implied that the BJP's approach to caste census would be more thorough and data-driven.
Addressing the media in Hyderabad, Reddy said, "I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that you have not done census in Telangana, you have only done BC (Backward Classes) survey. There is a big difference between a survey and a census. There is no detail or data in the survey."
Reddy's remarks come amid heightened national discourse around caste-based data following the Centre's decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming national census--a move BJP leaders have described as constitutionally grounded and aimed at social equity.
The reaction came after Rahul Gandhi, who addressed a press conference on Wednesday, welcomed the decision to conduct caste enumeration but stressed the need for a clear timeline.
"We had said in the Parliament that we will make the Caste Census happen. We had also said that we would scrap the 50% cap, the artificial wall that is in place. Narendra Modi used to say that there are just four castes. Don't know what happened, but suddenly after 11 years, Caste Census has been announced," Rahul Gandhi said.
"We completely support it, but we want a timeline. We want to know by when this will happen. This is the first step. Telangana has become a model in the Caste Census, and it can become a blueprint. We offer our support to the government in designing the Caste Census...There are two examples - Bihar's and Telangana's, and there is a vast difference between the two," he added.
The Congress leader stated that the caste census is the first step, and there is a need to adopt a new development paradigm.
"I would like to reiterate that caste census is the first step. Our vision is of bringing a new development paradigm through Caste Census. Not just reservations but we are also asking central questions - be it OBCs, Dalits, Adivasis, what is their participation in this country? Through Caste Census it will be found, but we have to go ahead of Caste Census...We had mentioned one more thing: Congress had raised one more point, which was also mentioned in the manifesto, specifically Article 15(5) - reservation in private educational institutions. This is already a law. We want the NDA-BJP Government to begin implementing it," he added. (ANI)