At Deekshabhoomi, Gandhi again calls for caste census

Congress leader pays tributes to Ambedkar; says BJP, RSS trying to carry out an 'agenda of inequality'

- Ramu Bhagwat

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched his party's election campaign with a visit to Deekshabhoomi, where BR Ambedkar with approximately 400,000 of his followers, mainly Dalits, embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956.

Gandhi paid tributes to the chief architect of the Constitution and later once again accused the BJP and the RSS of trying to carry out an "agenda of inequality".

"When I talk about the caste census, [Prime Minister Narendra] Modiji says that I am dividing the nation. But I am amplifying only a feeble voice from the deprived masses. I have heard the voice that says 90% of the population gets no benefit of the country's resources. Only a caste census can give justice to this 90% deprived population of India," the Congress leader said.

"The RSS and the BJP cannot attack the Constitution from the front. So they hide behind 'vikas', 'pragati', unity (words like 'development', 'progress', 'patriotism') to carry out their agenda of inequality that ensures benefits only to a few individuals at the cost of a vast majority of people," he said.