'Caste census my life's mission': Rahul Gandhi counters PM Modi's offensive

Amid the slugfest between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Congress party over the latter's Lok Sabha elections 2024 manifesto, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that caste census -- one of the key promises of his party -- is not politics for him but is his life's mission.

In its manifesto, Congress has promised to conduct a nationwide socio-economic and caste census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions. "Based on the data, we will strengthen the agenda for affirmative action," the manifesto read.

"Caste census is not politics for me, it is my life's mission, and I will not leave it. No power can stop the caste census. As soon as the Congress government comes, we will first conduct caste census. This is my guarantee," he said.

The Congress has also guaranteed that it will pass a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC. The reservation of 10 per cent in jobs and educational institutions for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) will be implemented for all castes and communities without discrimination, as per the party's manifesto.

Terming the party's Nyay Patra as a "revolutionary" manifesto, Gandhi said that the Prime Minister has panicked after seeing it. "There is mention of x-ray (caste census) and income inequality created by Modi ji. The Congress will return a small amount of money to 90 per cent of the people of the country from the Rs 16 lakh crore given to the 22 people by Narendra Modi," he said.