With the Lok Sabha 2024 elections in sight, Gandhi’s scion and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi have put the weight of the national party, Congress, behind the demand for a nationwide caste census. For this, he has been raising the slogan ‘Jitni Aabadi Utna Haq’, particularly after the release of the Caste Census report in Bihar. However, old Parliament records show that Rajiv Gandhi had vehemently opposed this idea, and if he had been alive, he would have lambasted his son for raising this demand, according to a report in News18.
Additionally, his late father had even accused the then PM VP Singh of trying to lead the country into caste wars with the Mandal Commission report, an exclusive News18 report highlighted. The report noted that in 1990, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had advocated for a “casteless society” and urged the house not to let one man’s obstinacy lead to a “caste war” in India.
However, following the route in the last two general elections, the Congress party – being stewarded by the Gandhi family has decided to turn towards the second edition of 1990s Mandal politics, an approach which their predecessors had opposed, the media portal highlighted based on old Parliament records over this issue.
Evidently, on 6th September 1990, addressing the Lok Sabha, Rajiv Gandhi said, “If you think back, it was in 1980 that the Congress under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, had raised the slogan ‘Na jaat par, na patt par’ (not on caste or creed).”
Apparently, the VP Singh government had accused previous Congress PMs of sitting on the (Mandal) report.
News18 reported that it reviewed the Parliamentary speech where the then Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Rajiv Gandhi retorted sharply to then PM VP Singh when he was aggressively pushing the Mandal Commission report.
In the speech, Rajiv Gandhi advocated for a casteless society and asserted that nobody in the house could deny that the removal of casteism was not part of the national goal. He also charged that VP Singh’s government revolves around caste and it is causing a rift in the society. He maintained that caste politics could harm and break India.
Rajiv Gandhi said, “It is extremely sad that the thinking in this government revolves around caste…VP Singh is causing a rift in our society.” He stated that the goal of the country must be a casteless society and one must avoid steps that take the country towards a caste-ridden society. He added, “Nobody in this House will say that the removal of casteism is not part of that national goal.”
In this 1990 speech in Parliament, Rajiv Gandhi shared a similar view that PM Modi has been warning about that the issue of caste census amounts to divide the people and the country.
The then LoP, Rajiv Gandhi said, “…the manner in which you have implemented the Mandal Commission, to me, it is breaking up my country. Even at this late hour, there is time to pull the country back from this caste division.”
He emphasised that the VP Singh government was creating a “vested interest in casteism and the country is going to pay a very heavy price for this”, the News18 report added, citing old parliamentary records.
Moreover, he also asked why the government accepted caste as the sole identifier. He noted that to remove backwardness and poverty, the house has to look at the root cause of the problem and give equal opportunity.
He said, “We, the Congress, are in favour of a comprehensive action plan, an affirmative action plan for the backward communities. We need that. The problem cannot be solved by playing politics or by limited politically motivated manipulations.”
He lamented the reality is that caste counts for a tremendous amount in this country. But what is our goal? Is our goal a casteless society?
Launching a scathing attack against VP Singh for dividing the society on caste line, Rajiv Gandhi asserted, “The PM does not have the guts to stand up and say whether he believes in a casteless society or does not believe in a casteless society. It is very sad, sir.” He further requested the house not to let one man’s obstinacy lead to a caste war in India.
He said, “I would like to appeal to this House, let us not have one man’s obstinacy holding India hostage, let that man’s obstinacy not lead to children getting killed, our children, Indian children getting killed on the streets.”
Concluding his speech, Rajiv Gandhi said, “Socially and educationally backward classes need all the help they can get including reservation and the Congress will support you in that. We would like that to be targeted to the poorest and the weakest in the socially and educationally backward classes this the Congress Party has outlined in the Working Committee’s Resolution on August 30 this year.”