Kicking off its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Congress party on Thursday relaunched its promise of the NYAY minimum income guarantee scheme and said it will conduct a nationwide caste census if elected to power. At a mega rally titled ‘Hain Taiyyar Hum’ in Nagpur to mark its 138th foundation day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the Bharatiya Janata Party under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has destroyed the very institutions that the Congress built in its quest to power and exhorted people to join the Congress’ fight to reclaim what rightfully belongs to the people.
Lauding the role of the Congress in nation-building, Rahul said that it was the Congress that gave the country the Constitution, that gave equal rights to the people of India. Rahul said that the country saw the lawless rule of kings and the British before being brought under a constitutional framework. “It was Congress which gave citizens their dignity and rights. It was Congress that gave every Hindustani its right to vote. It made no discrimination between Dalits, Adivasis or general category…between Tamil, Bengali or UPite.”
He further lamented that institutions including investigating agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation as well as the media were being dismantled and captured under the rule of BJP’s tyranny. “Your vote enables the formation of different institutions. These are your institutions. But BJP is capturing all institutions,” Rahul said.
Congress promises NYAY, caste census
During his speech at the rally in Nagpur which also houses the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Rahul promised to conduct a nationwide caste census to ensure equal rights to the people of all communities. Taking on the BJP over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of having empowered the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Rahul said that they have not been given adequate representation in the corridors of power despite constituting 50 per cent of the population.
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“Out of 90 IAS officers at the Centre, there are just three OBCs. They are given small departments. When it comes to power they are nowhere. OBCs are 50 percent of the population, Dalits 15 percent and Adivasis 12 percent. Still, they have got a raw deal in the BJP regime. In the 100 to 200 big companies, who is at the helm? You don’t see any OBC, Dalit, tribal representation. On what basis is the Modi government claiming it is serving OBC, dalits, tribals? Why are they not part of power share?” he asked.
Addressing the gathering, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Congress will implement the NYAY scheme if it is voted to power at the Centre. The promise was part of the Congress manifesto ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and promised a guaranteed cash transfer of Rs 72,000 a year to 5 crore poorest families.
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“If the public gives strength to the INDIA alliance in the upcoming elections, we will implement ‘Nyaya Yojana’. We will empower the women of the country so that they can strengthen the entire family,” Kharge said.
“Nagpur is the land of revolutionaries and on this land, Ambedkar ji united millions of people with one ideology. In Nagpur, on one side there is the ideology of progress. On the other hand, there is the ideology of RSS which is ruining the country,” Kharge added.