Gandhi said just like the Constitution, the "caste census" is a policy framework and a guide for the Congress.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh is reviving its 'brotherhood committees', a strategy used successfully in the 2007 elections, to bolster its support among Other Backward Castes (OBCs) ahead of the 2027 state assembly elections. These committees, to be formed in all 403 constituencies, aim to connect with 100 people from OBC communities in each village, acting as ambassadors of the party at the booth level. The BSP sees these committees as a counter to the Samajwadi Party's PDA pitch and a means to consolidate its scattered rural vote bank. The party is also highlighting the 'anti-Dalit' and 'anti-OBC' tactics of the Congress, BJP and SP, hoping to capitalize on perceived grievances and reposition itself as a champion of marginalized communities.
Talks between Maratha quota agitation leader Manoj Jarange and a government delegation ended without a resolution in Mumbai. Jarange criticized the Chief Minister and vowed to continue his hunger strike, demanding a 10% quota for Marathas under the OBC category.
Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to discuss the ongoing hunger strike by activist Manoj Jarange, who is demanding a 10 per cent quota for Marathas under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category.
'As soon as the BJP feels they are going to lose power, they will publish the caste census data of 2011 and conduct the caste census of 2021.'
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar denied on Monday making any comments regarding changing the Constitution to accommodate four per cent reservation for Muslims in the state. He claimed he was "misquoted" and warned of moving a breach of privilege motion. Shivakumar's remarks came after the BJP forced repeated adjournments in the Lok Sabha over his alleged comments on the matter. The BJP has accused Shivakumar of seeking to change the Constitution for political gain, highlighting the ongoing controversy surrounding reservation policies in India.
'The Constitution of India defeated the BJP.'
"Out of 100, I will give minus zero marks to this GR," said activist Vinod Patil.
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
Gandhi expressed confidence that a vast majority of the INDIA parties will support and push for a caste census.
'We are only demanding that we get our rightful share of quota based on the eligibility under the Kunbi category'
The Eastern Freeway, Sion-Panvel highway, V N Purav Road, P D'Mello Road, Wallchand Hirachand Marg, Dr Dadabhai Nauroji Road and Hajarimal Somani Road will be closed for all types of vehicular traffic except emergency service vehicles, said the official.
Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas leader Chirag Paswan is planning to convene a meeting of Scheduled Caste MPs of different parties as he works to mobilise support ahead of his party filing a review plea in the Supreme Court against its judgment allowing sub-categorisation of reservation within the community.
Political watchers say the caste survey report was made public to play the OBC-EBC card and stall the BJP's campaign to win most of Bihar's 40 Lok Sabha seats.
The RJD has fielded six women candidates, some of them are wives of bahubalis.
The JD-U and the Opposition RJD are united on a caste census in Bihar, which the BJP is opposed to.
Activist Manoj Jarange, on a hunger strike for Maratha quota, is open to talks with the government but refuses to leave Mumbai until demands are met. He urges protesters to maintain peace and claims they haven't violated any laws.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accuses the BJP-led government of stealing votes with the help of the Election Commission during a rally in Siwan, Bihar.
The government on Thursday approved inclusion of more castes in the central list of OBCs for various states, a move it hopes will especially help it reach out to people in Naxal affected states.
'If you are weak economically, you automatically lag behind in other aspects of life.'
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Bihar government to put in the public domain the break-up of the caste survey data to enable those aggrieved to challenge the findings.
In a sharp retort to Priyanka Gandhi's barb of indulging in "low-level" politics, Narendra Modi on Tuesday invoked his 'backward class' status to further mount attack on the Congress' star campaigner.
Manoj Jarange's protest for Maratha quota at Mumbai's Azad Maidan enters its third day. Jarange is demanding 10% quota for Marathas and recognition as Kunbis. Maharashtra ministers suggest the community avail the existing EWS quota.
Pawar said he has all the respect for the OBC community, but he does not want to hide the caste he was born in.
The opposition INDIA bloc has declared RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
Ahead of the assembly polls in Rajasthan, the Congress government on Saturday night issued an order for the conduct of a caste survey in the state.
The Deepa Thoon controversy, if not allowed to die a natural death, could take the election focus away from the anti-incumbency impacting the DMK and into the secular space. Stalin would love to have it that way, all over again, after the three past elections, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Justice Khanna said all the intervention applications filed on the issue will also be taken on April 16 when the final hearing will take place.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the underprivileged need economic and political power and not empty words as he again called for removing the 50 per cent ceiling on quota and demanded reservations for Dalits and tribals based on their population.
The easiest way to explain this away is by dismissing it as a non-representative sample, for such it is in the broad national context. But that would be to miss the point. Admittedly, a database of 10 million rsums from educated people who have access to computers, in a total labour force of 470-odd million and a workforce of 458 million (the difference between the two is the number of unemployed people), is not the ideal database to use for assessing a national problem.
On Wednesday, the Bihar Cabinet in a meeting chaired by the chief minister passed a resolution on asking the Centre to include the provision in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution, Siddharth said.
'The upper caste elite's belief that they are casteless is a belief that is available only to the upper castes. Because all the lower castes are reminded by society every day what their caste is.'
Saini's elevation as Haryana chief minister fits in with a pattern that has gathered pace in the BJP after the Congress and its allies like the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar began making an aggressive bid to woo the largest group of communities and politically most significant, especially in Hindi-speaking states, by pushing for a caste census.
Activist Manoj Jarange vows to intensify his hunger strike for Maratha reservation under OBC, while the Maharashtra government seeks legal opinion on the issue.
Will a caste census make tens of millions desert Mr Modi?, asks Shekhar Gupta.
The Karnataka government has tabled a Bill in the Legislative Assembly to introduce a 4 per cent reservation for Muslims in public contracts. The Bill aims to address unemployment among backward classes and promote their participation in government construction projects. The BJP has called the move an "unconstitutional misadventure" and vowed to oppose it.
'It was the Supreme Court's order (recommending changes in the SC/ST Act).' 'Isn't it wrong not to accept even the court's order?' 'Are you bigger than every institution?'
'Modi and Shah know their politics. That is why the alarmed switch to reservations, and raising the threat from 'vote bank' politics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
