Do They Want To Remove Minorities? PM Modi Attacks Cong On Caste Census

A day after Bihar government released the caste census report, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday slammed the Congress and INDIA bloc, claiming 'gareebi' (poverty) is the biggest population in the country.

Addressing a gathering at Bastar's Jagdalpur in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, the Prime Minister said, "Since yesterday, Congress leaders are saying 'jitni aabadi utna haq'... I was wondering what the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be thinking. He used to say that the minority has the first right to the country's resources... But now Congress is saying that the population of the community will decide who will have the first right to the country's resources."

"So now do they (Congress) want to decrease the rights of the minority? Do they want to remove the minorities?... So, should the Hindus, who have the largest population, come forward and take all their rights?... I am repeating Congress party is no longer being run by Congress people. Senior leaders of Congress are sitting with their mouths shut, neither are they asked, nor do they dare to speak after seeing all this. Now Congress has been outsourced," he added.

The data released from a statewide caste-based survey in Bihar showed that other backward and extremely backward classes constitute 63 per cent of the state's population of 13 crore.

Of this, 36.01 per cent belonged to the extreme backward classes and 27.13 per cent were from other backward classes. Yadavs formed a little over 14 per cent.

Nineteen percent of the individuals hailed from the scheduled castes, according to the data released by Additional Chief Secretary Vivek Kumar Singh. Slightly over 15 percent were part of the general category in the state, with Brahmins and Rajputs constituting a combined seven percent of this group.

Bihar's caste survey has seen major opposition from the BJP-led national government which maintained a census was a statutory process under a central legislation and that the law empowered only the central government to conduct it.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had hailed the report and said, "The caste census of Bihar has revealed that OBC SC ST are 84% there. Out of 90 secretaries of the Central Government, only 3 are OBC, who handle only 5% of India's budget! Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics of India. The greater the population, the greater the rights - this is our pledge".

However, Chhattisgarh is scheduled to go for polls in November 2023.