New Delhi: Congress leader Anand Sharma on Thursday wrote to the party's national president Mallikarjun Kharge, opposing Rahul Gandhi's caste census promise. "The caste census cannot be a panacea nor a solution for the unemployment and prevailing inequalities," the Congress leader wrote.
In his letter to Kharge, Sharma said that the caste census "will be misconstrued as disrespecting the legacy of Indira ji and Rajiv ji..."
The letter comes at a time when the Congress has intensified its demand for a nationwide caste census and placed it at the top of their list of priorities if they get elected to power in the Lok Sabha elections.
He further stated that Congress never engaged nor endorsed identity politics and hence it is detrimental to democracy. “Though caste is a reality of Indian society, Congress has never engaged in nor endorsed identity politics. That is detrimental to democracy in a society with a rich diversity of region, religion, caste and ethnicity. As a representative National Party, Congress has believed in the inclusive approach, which is non-discriminatory in formulating policies for equity and social justice for the poor and the under-privileged,” he wrote in his letter.
After independence, a conscious policy decision was made by the government not to canvass caste-related questions in the census, except for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which is collected by the states, he wrote.
"All Census Commissioners, after independence, have recorded their reasons and disapproval of a National Caste Census citing overlap, duplication, data lacking in accuracy and doubtful authenticity.
"In my considered view, a caste census cannot be a panacea nor a solution for unemployment and prevailing inequalities. A fundamental departure from time honoured policy on this critical and sensitive subject has major long-term national implications," Sharma said.
Meanwhile, on the last day of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Gandhi said, "Caste census is a revolutionary step. The moment we come to power at the Centre, we will conduct this exercise. The second thing we will do is to provide a legal guarantee for providing MSP to farmers."