The Congress “regrets” that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government did not pass its Women’s Reservation Bill in 2010 by including a quota for women from other backward classes (OBCs), former party chief Rahul Gandhi said on September 22, even as he asserted that his party would successfully carry out a caste-based census if it comes to power.
Mr. Gandhi claimed that the BJP-led government had brought in its Women’s Reservation Bill as a distraction from the Opposition’s demand for such a census. “So, this is a diversionary tactic, it’s a way of making everyone’s attention move away. The question is what are they moving away from? And the answer is the caste census,” he said.
The Congress leader added that the Bill would be implemented, if at all, after 10 years, noting the legislation’s “footnotes” requiring a new census and delimitation exercise to be conducted first. He urged immediate implementation.
