Modi takes poverty shield as Opposition aims with caste census

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, October 3: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday warmed up to the electoral battle sought out by the Opposition on the caste census mat. With the Congress now seen as the cheer leader of the Opposition demand for caste census, Modi drew the poverty line while addressing a rally in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.

“The maximum population is that of the Hindus; should they seize the rights of the minorities,” asked Modi, seeking the Congress to clarify the stand on its demand for reservation as per the population. Modi asked if the Congress wanted to remove the minority community.

The Bihar government on Monday released the caste survey data, which claimed that the backward castes in the state constituted over 63 per cent of the population. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been campaigning on the slogan of “reservation as per population”.

Modi also asked the Congress to clarify if the religious assets of the minorities will be grabbed in the name of ‘jitni abadi, utni haq (rights as per population)’. In another rally in Nizamabad, Telangana, the prime minister sought to turn heat on the Congress, claiming that the Opposition party’s demand for population-based rights should worry the southern states.

While Modi didn’t elaborate, the building narrative in the southern states about the next Delimitation Commission is that they will lose out on the strength in the Lok Sabha because of the low population growth against the northern states.

Modi also asserted that the biggest caste in India is poverty, as he hinted that the BJP would counter the Opposition’s caste census narrative with the welfare credentials of the government at the Centre. The BJP had maintained silence over the Bihar government’s decision to release the data of the caste survey even while a slew of petitions challenging the exercise is pending before the Supreme Court.     

But Modi on Tuesday set the tone for the BJP’s narrative to go on an aggressive stance against the Congress principally by hitting at its track record in eliminating poverty. The Modi government has been claiming to have lifted 13.5 crore people out of poverty in the last five years by basing on the findings of the multidimensional poverty index report brought out by the NITI Aayog close on the heels of the joint efforts of the Oxford University and the UNDP. The BJP also claims to have built a new constituency consisting of the beneficiaries of the Central schemes in the country.    

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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