During an election campaign speech in Karnataka’s Kolar district, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called for the removal of the 50% cap on reservation for Other Backward Classes.
He also dared the Central government to make public the results of the caste census initiated by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2011.
Rahul Gandhi on political representation
He argued that this move would reveal whether the population of Other Backward Classes (OBC), Dalits, and Adivasis are adequately represented in the political sphere in proportion to their population.
"When discussing the Dalits, OBCs, and people of India, the most pressing question is determining which section holds the largest population. Presently, only 7 percent of secretaries in the government are from the OBCs, Adivasis, and Dalits. Hence, the crucial question is to identify the population of OBCs, Adivasis, and Dalits in the country before commencing the discussions on wealth distribution and political representation," Rahul said.
Caste-based census in 2011
Rahul added that the caste-based census was initiated by the UPA government in 2011, and he emphasized the significance of knowing the population of each section for determining their political representation and achieving overall development. He also advocated for the removal of the 50% reservation cap on SC/ST and instead keeping it proportional to their population.
In September 2021, the BJP government had informed the Supreme Court of its disapproval towards a caste-based census, citing administrative difficulty and complexity as reasons. They had also clarified that excluding this information from the census was a "conscious policy decision."
Rahul's recent call to exceed the 50% reservation cap aligns him with the stance taken by other opposition parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and the DMK. Tamil Nadu had already surpassed this limit in the 1990s.
In Karnataka, the BJP government had previously passed a resolution to elevate the quota and incorporate it under the 9th Schedule of the Constitution, exempting it from legal scrutiny.
"Modi ji, you should release the data of the caste census. Everything will become clear after that…You talk about the welfare of OBC, so show the nation how many of them are in the population…" Rahul said.
