Free education in government institutions, an annual ₹4,000 assistance for those who collect tendu leaves and farm loan waiver are among the several sops announced by former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Saturday in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, even as he kept his focus on the party’s OBC outreach with the promise of a caste-based survey for the State.
Addressing election rallies in Bhanupratappur and Farsgaon in the Naxal-affected Bastar division, the Congress leader asked why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi scared of a caste census when he (Mr. Modi) talks about Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in his speeches.
“Narendra Modi ji uses OBC word in every speech and he identified himself as an OBC but why is he scared of the caste census? OBCs have to be aware as they are being ditched,” Mr. Gandhi said.
