Firm on breaking 50% reservation cap in country: Rahul
Patna: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said wherever there is a Congress govt, 50% reservation barrier would be removed.
Addressing the 'Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan' at Rajgir in Nalanda district, Gandhi said he was firm on his commitment to break the 50% barrier on reservations.
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"If the population of the marginalised communities is 90%, why is their reservation limited to only 50%?" he asked.
He said, "the Telangana govt has already broken the barrier, and wherever a Congress govt is formed, this barrier will be removed there."
Gandhi also said Bihar which once guided the world civilisations with its wisdom and philosophy has now turned into the "crime capital of the country".
He said, "Bihar was once considered the land of truth, justice, and non-violence.
It showed the path to the entire world; people from across the globe used to come to study at Nalanda University".
But today, he said, the situation has completely changed. "People from Bihar are now forced to migrate to other states and even abroad because there are no employment opportunities here", he pointed out, while remarking, "Bihar has now become the crime capital of the country".
Reaffirming his commitment to caste census and removing the 50% cap on reservation, he said, he will ensure both these are done.
And once done, there will be a paradigm shift in the way development is carried out in the country.
Gandhi disclosed that after joining politics, he learnt that "90% of the country's population has no real representation anywhere". The backward classes, dalits, adivasis, and extremely backward communities lack meaningful representation in key areas such as the corporate sector, judiciary, bureaucracy, and among the owners of private hospitals and other institutions.
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On the other hand, Gandhi added, these 90% of people can only be found among the MGNREGA and the gig workers. He said, while dalits, backward classes, adivasis, extremely backward communities, and the poor from the general category make up 90% of the population, they control less than 5% of the country's resources. "You have 90% shareholding in pain and suffering", he remarked about the 90% population.
Gandhi also said while the BJP agreed under pressure to carry out the caste census, he was not sure whether they will do it the way it needs to be done.
He referred to the Telangana model, where the questions were framed by about 3 lakh people, unlike the BJP model, where the questions are framed by a selective few officers behind closed doors with no representation from the "90% population".
Referring to the Constitution, he said, it is not merely a 75-year-old book, but a collection of thoughts and philosophy of thousands of years. "The Constitution embodies an ancient philosophy — the thoughts of Lord Shiva, Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Ambedkar, Periyar, Narayana Guru, and Basavanna", he said, while adding, "This ideological battle has been going on for thousands of years as on one side stands Mahatma Gandhi and on the other, Godse".
Gandhi said, once the caste census is conducted properly, it will not just be an X-ray but an MRI, leading to a new paradigm of development. "The beginning will be made from Bihar; you have been doing it for thousands of years and you will do this also as this is in your DNA", he remarked amidst thundering applause.
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