Union Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel said on Saturday that the BJP has made a hattrick of giving Other Backward Class (OBC) Chief Ministers to Madhya Pradesh, which goes to polls soon.
Mr. Patel, at a press conference in Bhopal, said, “Our Prime Minister comes from the Backward community. In M.P., we’ve made a hattrick. We have had three CMs here and all of them came from this community. Those who seek votes in the name of Backward community, how many (CMs) have they made?”
Mr. Patel, a Member of Parliament from M.P.’s Damoh Lok Sabha constituency, has been fielded by the BJP, along with two more Union Ministers and four other MPs, to contest the upcoming Assembly polls.
The debate around the caste census has gained momentum after the Bihar Government released its survey report on October 2, revealing that the OBCs and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) formed 63% of Bihar’s population.
Senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have been demanding a caste-based survey across the nation.
Accusing PM Narendra Modi of not giving OBCs their “rightful share” in governance, Mr. Gandhi at a rally in M.P.’s Shajapur promised a nation-wide caste census if the Congress comes to power in 2024.
Earlier in August, Mr. Kharge had also promised a caste-based survey in M.P. for better planning of resource allocation for the backward classes, if his party comes to power in the State.
Mr. Patel, who was responding to a query from reporters, said, “The BJP’s way is to uplift the backward class people and raise them into leadership roles. This would be a better approach instead of divide them and make them fight.”
