Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday demanded immediate implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill and expressed “100 per cent regret” that the proposed legislation during the UPA Government did not include reservation for OBCs.
He also demanded that the Government carry out a caste census and make public its findings along with that of the previous caste census conducted during the UPA rule.
Noting that the Government’s intention behind bringing the bill was political, he said it will not be implemented in the next 10 years as it has been linked to the population census and the delimitation exercise.
The bill was meant for diverting attention from the growing call for a caste census, Rahul said and alleged that the BJP MPs have no role in decision-making and they are like mere “moortis” (idols) in a temple without any power given to them.
“The truth is that this bill will be implemented in 10 years from now, if it is implemented at all,” he claimed at a press conference at the AICC headquarters, a day after Parliament approved the legislation to reserve a third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women.
Rahul said that while he favoured the bill, he sought more reservation for women from backward classes and other sections as per their population ratios.
Asked if he regretted that the erstwhile UPA government did not give OBC quota in its women’s reservation bill that was passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010, Rahul Gandhi said, “There is 100 per cent regret. We should have done that back then and we will get this done now.”
The women’s reservation bill is a good thing, but two “footnotes” of census and delimitation have been attached to it which will take many years to give this reservation to women, he said.
“Share on basis of population - this is the right of our OBC brothers and sisters! Release the caste census data now, do the new census on the basis of caste. Implement women’s reservation now, not after 10 years,” Rahul Gandhi later posted on X in Hindi.
At the press conference, he said, “You can ask any BJP MP in Lok Sabha, which is called ‘temple of democracy’, if they take any decision or take part in law-making - not at all.... MPs are considered a ‘moorti’ (idol) in a temple, they have been kept like that without giving them any power. A BJP MP has told me this.”
The Congress said delimitation and census were “poor excuses” for postponement of the bill’s implementation and alleged that the entire exercise was to create an election issue, without actually implementing it. The opposition party also dubbed the bill a “teasing illusion”.
“The BJP came up with the idea of a special session. We appreciated that idea. With a lot of fanfare and pomp we moved from the old building to the new building. The prime minister in a very dramatic gesture carried the Constitution of India from the old building to the new building and he said that he is passing a very important law and we agree with him,” said Rahul.
The Congress leader said he was shocked to find that only three secretary-level officers in the Government of India are from OBCs and only five per cent of the budget is allocated for them.
The central question now is how many OBCs are there in India and how many are from other communities in India, he said and pitched for a caste census.
“If we want to distribute power to the people of India, we want to know this number, otherwise we are working without data.... All this data is available as the census has already been done. Why is the prime minister not releasing this data,” he asked.
On the BJP’s assertion of the party having a significant number of MPs and MLAs from OBCs, Rahul Gandhi said, “You can ask any MP or MLA on how much they participate in law-making, how much they participate in how the money in India is spent, they will tell you there is no participation.”
“And as the prime minister keeps saying he an OBC leader, I want him to explain why only three OBC (officers) are there in the Government of India and why the OBC community which is the backbone of this country is responsible for only five per cent of the budget,” he noted.
Gandhi said the BJP was not been able to respond to this question and when he mentioned it, “I saw in their face the panic. Because this is the truth and this is what they are trying to distract India from - the fact that the large mass of Indian people do not have any power.