Rahul Gandhi Admits UPA Government’s Mistake in Not Conducting Caste Census, Slammed by Press Club for Attacking Journalists

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Nov 18: The Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday regretted as mistake the party-led previous UPA government not thinking about caste census in country even as he was castigated by the Mumbai Press Club for his “high-handed attitude” towards the working journalists and expressed concern how his party might behave with the media if it was to return to power.

Addressing an election rally on the last day of the campaigning in Ranchi in Jharkhand, Mr Gandhi said it was a “mistake’ of the erstwhile UPA government not to conduct a caste census when they were the ones to come up with the idea. But the party, he added, planned to rectify it, starting with the caste survey in Congress-ruled states of Telangana and Karnataka. A Congress-JMM victory in Jharkhand will ensure a similar exercise in the eastern state as well, he added.

The party was conducting a detailed exercise in the two southern states — meeting different stakeholders and “preparing the questions of the caste census through a public discussion.” The Congress, he said, has a “very clear vision” for the caste census. The current lack of data on Backward Classes hinders effective policymaking and equitable distribution of wealth, he underscored. “Once we have accurate data, we can develop policies to ensure justice for all sections,” he said.

“I guarantee you that when we implement the caste census, which we will do, as I have committed in the Lok Sabha and we will do in Jharkhand, it will be a huge step in the transformation and development of this country… The BJP people have no idea even how to do this, even if they wanted to do it,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

The Congress has promised to remove the 50 per cent cap on reservation after conducting a caste census — a plan the BJP has slammed as politics of regionalism, religion, and linguistic differences. “By speaking about abolishing reservations in the country, Rahul Gandhi has once again brought the Congress’s anti-reservation face to the forefront. The thoughts that were in his mind eventually found their way out as words,” Union minister Amit Shah had said when Mr Gandhi spoke of this issue abroad. Ahead of the ongoing assembly election in Jharkhand, Mr Gandhi has promised to increase quota for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes and the Other Backward Classes in the state if the Grand Alliance came to power.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Press Club has criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his “high-handed attitude towards working journalists” and said his repeated “targeting of journalists” raises concerns about “how his party might approach the press if it were to return to power”.

The media body’s strong remarks came after Mr Gandhi pointed to some reporters at an election rally in Maharashtra and called them “slaves of their owners.” “It is not their fault. I like them. They have to work, draw salaries, fund their children’s education, get food on the table, so they cannot do anything against their owners,” he said.

The Mumbai Press Club said that the remarks were “cloaked in concern” for the plight of journalists, but his comments carried “a tone of condescension.” It added that the working conditions of journalists today are a result of contractualisation partly driven by the policies of past Congress governments.

“Has Mr Gandhi ever reflected on the root causes of the challenges faced by working journalists in India and the state of journalism as a whole? The precarious conditions of journalists today stem largely from rampant contractualisation, driven in part by the neoliberal policies introduced by the Congress-led government in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Until then, journalists had fought for and secured significant rights, including unionization and better working conditions. Contractualisation, however, allowed monopoly media houses to sack journalists at will, weakening unions and leaving journalists vulnerable,” it said in a post on X.

“If Mr Gandhi truly wishes to address the plight of journalists, perhaps he should redirect his critique toward the media owners and the structural issues within the industry. The ever-present threat of dismissal, combined with an oversupply of unemployed and underemployed journalists, makes it unrealistic to expect working journalists to rebel against the system at great personal risk,” the Mumbai Press Club added.

“While we acknowledge the immense challenges posed by the current government’s authoritarian tendencies toward the media, it is equally concerning to witness Mr Gandhi’s repeated targeting of journalists. His rhetoric raises legitimate concerns about how his party might approach the press if it were to return to power. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi is rightly criticised for avoiding open press conferences, Mr Gandhi’s recurrent mockery and derision of journalists also deserve rebuke,” it said.

The Mumbai Press Club, the statement said, has always stood against the violation of journalists’ rights, whether by ruling parties, media owners, or other forces. “We, therefore, view the high-handed approach of the Leader of the Opposition toward working journalists as a matter of serious concern. Constructive dialogue and accountability, not dismissive remarks, are what the media-and democracy-deserve,” it said.