"There will be census in country but not based on caste": Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje
Mumbai: Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje asserted that there will be a census in the country but it will not be on the basis of caste as suggested by the Congress party.
Speaking to ANI in Mumbai on Tuesday, Karandlaje pointed out that the census was to be conducted in 2021 but could not be done due to Covid.
"There will be a census in the country but it will not be on the basis of caste. We cannot divide the country on the basis of caste and religion. Congress is doing this. For us, the country is one. 'Ek hai toh safe hai'," she said.
"To please Muslims in Karnataka, they are giving farmers' land to Waqf. Congress is talking about dividing the country, we are not doing this," the Union Minister added.
Caste census is among the five guarantees promised by the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the run-up to the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
MVA released its manifesto on Sunday and have promised to conduct a caste-based census and remove the 50 per cent cap on reservations in the state.
Earlier this month, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh slammed the Congress for its vision for a nationwide caste survey and termed it as a 'dhoka' to the people of the country, citing the non-success of a socio-economic caste census in 2011.
Addressing a rally in Jharkhand's Khunti, Rajnath Singh said, "These days you must be seeing that Congress is claiming to conduct a caste-based survey after they come into power. I want to say this is dhoka."
"I want to remind Congress that in 2011, a socio-economic caste census was conducted. In this 46 lakh castes, tribes and lineage came to the fore. This statistic was so wide that the people who had prepared this report back then did not even make it public," he added.
