Congress turns into pro-OBC party ahead of 2024 polls: All about history & agenda

The Congress party has intenisfied its push for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) representation ahead of the upcoming five state assembly elections and 2024 General elections. Amid the big political developments like the Women Reservation Bill and the Bihar government's caste survey, the grand old party expressed its support for the OBC quota and demanded for a nationwide caste census. Be it social media or in public rallies, the prominent members of the party have been pitching for the cause in the past few days.  

The Women's Reservation Bill or 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', proposes a 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. Sonia Gandhi extended support for the Bill with a sub-quota for SCs, STs, and OBCs during her speech in the Parliament. Calling it an emotional moment, Sonia asserted that the Bill was first brought by her husband and late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.  

The Bihar government released its caste survey unveiling its long-awaited caste-based census data, shedding light on the diverse demographics of the state on October 2. This release provides an overview of the people belonging to various communities, including Other Backward Classes (OBC), Extremely Backward Classes (EBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Unreserved categories.

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, in an attempt to re-establish the party with a strong OBC representation ahead of polls, backed the survey by making ‘Jitni Aabadi, Utna Haq' remark.

He took to social media and stated, "The caste census of Bihar has revealed that OBC + SC + ST are 84% there. Out of 90 secretaries of the Central Government, only 3 are OBC, who handle only 5% of India's budget! Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics of India. The greater the population, the greater the rights – this is our pledge.”

Congress divided on OBC stance?

After Rahul Gandhi's ‘Jitni Aabadi, Utna Haq!’ (‘The greater the population, the bigger the rights’) remark, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi differed from the party's pledge and expressed his disagreement. He warned of the consequences stating that this move would result in majoritarianism. Notably, Majoritarianism is the idea that the numerical majority of a population should have the final say in determining the outcome of a decision.

“Equality of opportunity is never the same as equality of outcomes. People endorsing #jitniabadiutnahaq have to first completely understand the consequences of it. It will eventually culminate into majoritarianism," Rajya Sabha MP posted on X, which was later taken down by him.  

The party distanced itself from Singhvi's statement clarifying that it is his personal views and does not reflect the stand of the Indian National Congress.

Rahul Contradicts Rajiv Gandhi's 1990 stance

As the Congress party's strong push, Rajiv Gandhi’s opposition to the Mandal Commission report during a session on September 6, 1990, also came to the fore which emphasised his goal to make a “casteless society”. During his speech in the Parliament, the late Rajiv Gandhi stated, "It is extremely sad that the thinking in this Government revolves around caste and perhaps that is why we are at this sorry state.”

"There has been, after a very long time, a caste tension like the one that has developed and the caste tension that we have seen today is on two levels— the first wave of caste tension was caused by the formula used by the National Front to get together, the AIGAR formula. The AIGAR formula was the casteist formula and it brought back casteism to electoral policy after a break of approximately 10 years. If you think back, it was in 1980 that the Congress under the leadership of Indira Gandhiji had raised the slogan 'Na jaat par, na patt par'," he said in his speech.

“Today we need to harness all the energies of the nation to develop so fast as to compete with other countries. That can only be done if we harness all the resources of our people. That includes the weakest, the most backward, and the poorest. They cannot be left out... The problems of backwardness are very real and they cannot be handled just by looking at any one aspect. You cannot say that we will give only education, so backwardness will go. You will start hitting at the roots, but it will take several years; you cannot say that we will give financial assistance and backwardness will go. It will help, but you cannot say only reservations will do. The fact is that you need a comprehensive plan," he said.

“The problem cannot be solved by playing politics or by limited politically motivated manipulations," Rajiv Gandhi remarked.

After a series of commotion and interruptions and heated exchanges, Rajiv said, one thing in a clear tone. "Sir, our goal today must be a casteless society. Let us be very clear about that," the former PM told the chair. What unfolded next offers a valuable lesson for those in the Opposition.

He continued, saying, "If you believe in a casteless society, every major step you take must be such that you move towards a casteless society. And you must avoid taking any step which takes you towards a caste-ridden society."

Is OBC representation Congress' 2024 poll agenda?

After the Bihar government's released data, Congress leaders have also vowed to conduct a Caste-census survey. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on October 6 announced that the state will soon witness a Bihar-like caste-based census on the sidelines of state assembly polls which is slated to be held later this year.  

While addressing the media during the state Congress meeting in Jaipur, Gehlot remarked, "Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made the caste census system in the Raipur session of Congress, and we will do it here on the basis of the same. Rajasthan government will also conduct a caste census like Bihar. We will take the concept that the people should participate as per their population. Instructions will be given to conducting caste-based census on the lines of Bihar," he added.    

Stressing the importance of a Caste-based census, Gehlot said, "When we talk about social security, it can be implemented only when we know what the situation is caste-wise. There are different castes living in the country who do different jobs, when we know how much population each caste has, then we can make special schemes for them."    

Earlier in Chhattisgarh's Kanker, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asserted if Congress is re-elected to power in the state, a caste census will be conducted in the state, similar to the one carried out in Bihar. "I announce that if Congress repeats government in Chhattisgarh, then like Bihar, we will also hold caste census in the state," Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said.

Notably, Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel also belong to the OBC communities and are presently in chief ministerial positions in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh respectively. The question that arises is, is this Congress's new pitch on the sidelines of the upcoming state and Lok Sabha elections?  

In an exclusive conversation with Republic Digital, Ashok Singh, Uttar Pradesh Congress Spokesperson stated that “Indian National Congress never does caste or religion politics. The entire nation wants the National caste survey to happen as the Lok Sabha elections are scheduled in 2024. From 2014 to till now, BJP has only given Rajnitik jumle (political phrases) as there is no discussion on issues like--inflation, and unemployment. The prime Minister has stated that he always wished to see people wearing slippers should also travel by aeroplane but they have broken their back. The country needs change and Congress will succeed in giving it to the citizens.”