Remove 50% cap on reservation: Rahul Gandhi in Kolar

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove the 50 per cent cap on reservation while also asking him to make the 2011 caste-based census data.

"UPA in 2011 did the caste-based census. It has the data of all the castes. Mr Prime Minister, you talk of OBCs. Make that data public. Let the nation know how many OBCs, Dalits and tribals are there in the country," PTI quoted Gandhi as saying at 'Jai Bharat' rally in Kolar in Karnataka.

Except for the caste data, the reports from the census have been published.

The cap refers to Supreme Court judgments pointing out that the overall reservation in government jobs and education for various communities should not breach the 50-per cent mark. However, there are exceptions with some states crossing the figure.

This is Gandhi's first rally in Karnataka since he was disqualified from Parliament after being convicted in a defamation case last month.

Batting for the census data to be made public, Gandhi stated that it was important to find out the population size of each community if everyone has to become part of the development of the country.

"Please release the caste census data so that the nation knows how much is the population of OBCs, Dalits and tribals. If you don't do this, then it is an insult to the OBCs. Also, remove the cap of 50 per cent on reservations," Gandhi said.

"The biggest question is how many OBCs, tribals and Dalits are there in India. If we talk of money and power distribution, then the first step should be to find out the size of their population," he further sgtated.

The senior Congress leader, who was disqualified as the MP after his conviction by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case, also targeted the Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Adani row.

"If you [PM Modi] can give thousands of crores of rupees to Adani, then we can give the money to poor, women, and youths. You helped Adani wholeheartedly, and we will wholeheartedly help the people of the state," he said. "Aap Apna Kaam Karo, Hum Apna Kaam Karenge (You do your work and we will do ours)," he said while urging people to vote for Congress.