Rahul Gandhi’s frank admission: ‘Can’t lie… Congress lost Dalit, OBC confidence after 1990s’

“I can say the Congress did not do what it should have done in the last 10-15 years. If I do not say this… Then I would be lying to you. And I do not like to lie. That is the reality. Had the Congress party maintained the confidence of the Dalits, backwards, and the most backward … The RSS would have never come to power,” the leader said.

“During Indira Gandhi’s time, full confidence (of the Dalits and backward classes) was maintained. Dalits, tribals, minorities, most backwards knew that Indira Gandhi would fight and die for them. But since the 1990s, the confidence has been declining and I can see that,” he said.

At this point, someone from the crowd shouted former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s name — insinuating that it was under him that the confidence had waned. To this, Gandhi replied: “I will not take names. But that is the reality and the Congress party will have to accept the reality.”

In order to combat this, Gandhi said the Congress will “have to bring in an internal revolution in the Congress party”.

Gandhi said the admission on the Congress’s part could “damage” him but he was not afraid of backlash.

“I said the Congress did not protect your (Dalit and OBC) interests as it should have done… The media will say Rahul Gandhi is saying this (about losing OBC, Dalit support). It does not matter to me because this is the reality.”

This statement is in line with Gandhi’s larger outreach to Dalits and OBCs. Struggling to win elections — the party has seen three consecutive Lok Sabha losses and is now confined to power in just three states — Gandhi has been trying hard to build a Muslim-Dalit-backward support base for some time. His stance against the politics of hate and polarisation through his mohabbat ki dukan (a shop of love) pitch, the caste census call, and the demand for the removal of the 50% ceiling on reservations all tie into the effort.

Gandhi then claimed that there are no opportunities for Dalits and OBCs in the present structure, which he alleged has been captured by the BJP and the RSS.

He added that the deprived sections need “power” and not just “representation”. “They need a share of power in institutions, educational institutions, corporate India and the judiciary. There is a big difference between share of power and representation,” he said.

In campaign mode for the Delhi elections, Gandhi also painted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as anti-reservation and anti-Dalit. “When Kejriwal came (to power), I saw and observed him. He is as anti-reservation and anti-Dalit as Modi… The only difference is that he is more sophisticated than Modi. He will say whatever you want to hear.”

The significance of reference to Indira Gandhi and the 90s

The BJP, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, often makes it a point that Indira Gandhi and subsequently Rajiv Gandhi did not implement the report of the Mandal Commission set up by the Janata government in 1979.

It would take 11 more years and a non-Congress to implement the key recommendation of the report — 27% reservations to “socially and educationally backward classes” for jobs in central services and public undertaking. In 1990, Prime minister V P Singh heading the Janata Dal government implemented the reservation, changing the course of caste politics in the country.

The 27% reservation for OBCs led to a wave of assertion from the community and the emergence of leaders such as Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar. They went on to create their own OBC vote base.

This meant that the Congress’s formidable OBC vote bank began shrinking, especially in the Hindi belt. Since then, the party has not been able to reach out to OBCs.

Against this backdrop, a new and a formidable challenger emerged in the BJP, which has been making major inroads into OBC, Dalit and tribal votes since 2014.

The last person from the Gandhi family to occupy the post of Prime Minister was Rajiv Gandhi (1984-’89). After that, the Congress had been in power for 15 years at the Centre with Rao at the helm from 1991 to 1996 and Manmohan Singh after from 2004 to 2014.