Rahul seeks 150 seats to ‘stop BJP from stealing verdict’, repeats call for caste census

“The Congress is going to win by a big majority. The party will win at least 130 seats. The 40% government [BJP] will not even get 40 seats,” Rahul earlier said at his rally in Bhalki.

The Congress leader accused the PM of not speaking out on corruption in the state BJP government. (Express Photo)

The Congress leader accused the PM of not speaking out on corruption in the state BJP government. “The PM has not spoken a word on the soap factory [Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited, the manufacturer of Mysore Sandal Soap] scam, in which a BJP MLA’s son was caught with a Rs 8 crore bribe. He has not spoken about the job scams, or when the PSI (police sub-inspectors recruitment) scam happened,” Rahul said.

The Congress leader also repeated that the Modi-led BJP government at the Centre was trying to cower him into silence by switching off his mike in Parliament and moving to disqualify him through a defamation case filed in a Gujarat court.

“I am not scared of these people. I will keep asking the PM and the BJP government questions on corruption. The 40% commission that is grabbed belongs to the people. This money is meant for your schools, colleges, universities and hospitals,” he said.

“When I raised the issue of corruption in Parliament and asked the PM about Adani, they switched off my mic and later disqualified me. This was done because I spoke out about corruption and asked questions of PM Modi,” the Congress leader said in Bhalki.

“I had asked three questions: what is the PM’s relationship with Mr Adani, to whom he is giving away businesses in the country, like ports and airports; why the PM is doing so; and who owns the Rs 20,000 crore in Adani’s bank accounts. Narendra Modiji first switched off my mike, and later disqualified me,” Rahul alleged.

“It is sad that the BJP and the RSS are attacking democracy across India. The thoughts of Basavannaji that everyone must have their space and that everyone must be taken along, are being attacked by the BJP and the RSS. Hate and violence are being spread in Hindustan, and the poor and weak are seeing their money being seized and given to two-three wealthy persons,” he said.

He also said promises made by his party would be fulfilled at a Cabinet meeting on the first day the party is back in power. “The first promise is called Griha Lakshmi, and this is to give Rs 2,000 to the women in every household every month. The second one is Griha Jyoti, which is free 200 units of power to every house. Then there is Anna Bhagya, which is 10 kg of rice for every member of a family. Finally, there is Yuva Nidhi, which is Rs 3,000 per month for two years to all unemployed graduates,” Gandhi said.

Like he did in Kolar on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi said the Narendra Modi government, which is accusing him of insulting OBCs, should prove its love for OBCs by making public details of a nationwide caste census conducted by the UPA.

“Let us talk about OBCs in a serious way. If we want to empower OBCs, both economically and socially, then we should know the number of people belonging to these communities. If we do not know the numbers, how can we help or strengthen them? When the UPA was in power, we had carried out a Census [in 2011] that had asked questions on caste. The entire data is with the government of India. Narendra Modi has not released the data. Delhi knows about the backwardness of the OBC community, but they are not talking about it. We will talk about it,” the Congress leader said.

“We want the poor people in the country to have a stake in the running of the government. The OBC census must be released. The reservation cap is 50%, but please remove this cap and then please carry out reservation as per the population of various communities,” he said.