Telangana begins caste survey; Rahul Gandhi says Maharashtra to follow suit

The Congress-ruled Telangana on Saturday launched a caste-based survey, setting aside 80,000 enumerators to cover 1.17 crore households across 33 districts of the state.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hailed the move and said PM Narendra Modi “wanted to stop the caste census”.

“The caste census started in Telangana today. We will use the data obtained from this to frame policies for the growth of all sections of the state. Soon, this will happen in Maharashtra too. Everyone knows that the BJP does not want to hold a caste census in the country,” Rahul said.

He said the PM “cannot stop the caste census across the country”. “We will pass this in Parliament and break the 50 per cent wall on reservation,” Rahul said. AICC general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said the caste census and the lifting of the SC-imposed ceiling of 50 per cent on reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs were central to the Congress’ vision for the country.