AICC OBC dept head: ‘There will be a radical change in Congress tickets for OBCs in Bihar, TN, UP polls'

Indian Express

2 days ago

About one-and-a-half years before he formally returned to the Congress in February 2025, Dr Anil Jaihind, 67, started working with Rahul Gandhi. Jaihind was the chairman of the Delhi Congress's Doctors Cell in 1992, when he quit the party to join the Janata Dal. He even contested, unsuccessfully, the 1993 Delhi Assembly elections on the Janata Dal's ticket. He quit politics in 1998 and turned into a social activist, going on to join Rahul's team in 2023. In April 2025, he was appointed the chairman of the All India Congress Committee (AICC)'s Other Backward Classes (OBC) department. In an interview with The Indian Express, Jaihind speaks on a gamut of issues related to the Congress's OBC outreach and its roadmap for social justice. Excerpts:
Rahul Gandhi recently said that the Congress has 'fallen short' in understanding and addressing the OBC issues, adding that many party leaders may disagree with him. Do you agree with him?
One way or the other, there have been two kinds of weaknesses in the party. First, full attention was not given to OBC issues. Secondly, whatever works we did in the interest of OBCs, we did not publicise it. Congress worked with the idea of 'neki kar, kuye me dal' (do good deeds and forget about them). We never made events out of everything, advertising them and seeking applause. The biggest work that Congress did for OBCs in recent years was ensuring reservation in higher education that Manmohan Singh and Arjun Singh provided (during the UPA government) on the directive of Sonia Gandhi ji – that was the biggest work for the OBCs, I believe.
I have been an OBC activist since 1978, I came in contact with B P Mandal when he was an MP. Later he became the Mandal Commission chairman. Reservation in jobs started in 1990 when V P Singh was Prime Minister, which benefited people.
Those children who because of reservation in education got admission in Delhi University, IITs and IIMs, they are now joining MNCs. There is a sea change and that is only because of education quota. And, the Socio-Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste Survey (SEEEPC) done in Telangana has also found that education, and that too in English, will help in progress everywhere…. This was the work Congress did, which we could not encash.
The Congress is the country's oldest party with a cadre and a dedicated OBC department. Still, why could the party not understand the OBC issues as admitted by Rahul?
I rejoined the Congress in February this year. Earlier, I was working with Rahul Gandhi ji as a social activist for over one-and-a-half years. I proposed that Rahul ji should directly address social activists. Then we held the first such programme – Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan – in Lucknow on May 10, 2024, which had a major impact on the Lok Sabha polls in UP. You should check the winning strike rate of the INDIA bloc in UP in polling that happened after May 10. Even Akhilesh Yadav (SP president) told Rahul Gandhi that his Samvidhan-related programmes made a major impact. Otherwise, Mulayam Singh Yadav had never won 37 Lok Sabha seats in UP despite being such a tall leader.
In UP and Bihar, Yadavs, a major OBC group, support the INDIA parties SP and RJD, while other OBC castes back other parties. Is the Congress aiming to become a party of all OBC groups?
Rahul ji has strictly asked us to follow 'gathbandhan dharma' (coalition dharma). That is why we do not indulge in poaching, which means if a leader from our any allies gets upset because of not getting a position or ticket in his party and approaches us, we don't encourage that, we follow alliance dharma.
Congress has done a lot of work among EBCs (Extremely Backward Classes) in Bihar in the past six months. EBCs were earlier associated with Nitish Kumar [Bihar CM and JD(U) chief] to a great extent and had some problems in connecting with RJD. Rahul is hugely concerned about EBCs. Tremendous work is being done in Bihar, which is giving results too.
How do you plan to reach out to the OBCs?
Currently, the tallest leader of the social justice movement is Rahul Gandhi. You can ask BJP leaders too about it. He is popular among OBCs as a 'nyay yoddha' (justice warrior) because he speaks for their justice. EBCs have very high expectations from Rahul ji.
Has the party firmed up its OBC roadmap?
The first thing is caste survey. To be very frank, so far our party has not publicised it keenly. People generally understand caste census as counting of castes only. In the caste census done in Telangana, study has been done on an individual's participation in five dimensions – social, economic, employment, educational and political. A set of 54 questions were put to every individual. Then an expert committee was constituted under Justice (Supreme Court retired judge) Sudarshan Reddy to analyse it. AI has been used in analysis. This Telangana caste survey is a tsunami.
You will need your government in other states to replicate the Telangana model. Till then, how will Congress take up the issue?
A movement will soon be created. Last year, PM Modi had called those advocating caste census 'urban naxal' mindset. On July 29, 2024, Rahul ji had said in Parliament, 'Whether you like it or not, we will get the caste census done in the current Lok Sabha by your (NDA) government.' Then people were surprised. But after public pressure built up over the next nine months, the government announced the caste census. Rahul ji got this done by the NDA government and without Congress being in power. Now the issue is whether the caste census will be done on Telangana model or on the 1931 British model.
Rahul ji calls it an MRI, used to find the disease inside the body, which is different from a photograph that cannot do it. Similarly, if only castes will be counted in the census, like the population of Kurmi, Jat, Yadav, Gujar, Brahmin, it would be like a photograph. So, if MRI has to be done to find the problem, then the Telangana model should be followed.
Will it be done in Bihar if Mahagathbandhan comes to power there?
100 per cent, and it will be done on the Telangana model.
Does the Congress see caste census as the best solution, or more would be done for the OBCs?
No, this is not the solution. Our ultimate goal is not just getting caste census done. A doctor cannot treat a patient without proper diagnosis. There are 215 castes in Telangana and every caste has a different problem. One caste is well-off economically, but lags in education, which needs to be fixed. Some castes face social discrimination. Every caste has a specific problem, so customised treatment will be required for it.
In recent appointments in the organisation, OBCs have been given adequate and proportionate participation.
Will this participation be also reflected in the Congress' ticket distribution in coming polls in Bihar, Tamil Nadu and UP?
There will be a radical change… Kunal Choudhary, who belongs to MBC, has been included in the Bihar election screening committee. In Bihar, the party has also set up a separate EBC department along with the OBC department. Also, the party has formed an Advisory Council of its 24 top OBC leaders, which recently held its meeting in Bengaluru.