Not 'Mandal vs kamandal' issue: Rahul says 50% quota cap must go, reiterates demand for caste census

NEW DELHI: Stressing that he has been consistently demanding that the 50% cap on reservation should be removed and a caste census conducted without delay, leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi said he has been misquoted that he is against quotas.

He said, "Somebody misquoted me yesterday, saying that I am against reservations... I have been saying again and again and again - we are going to increase reservations beyond 50%, and I am not against reservation."

To a question at the National Press Club in Washington, the Congress MP said his team raised attacks on minorities in Bangladesh at a meeting with US lawmakers, adding it's the responsibility of the Yunus govt to stop it soon.

Asked if he views caste census as an antidote to Hindutva politics, Rahul Gandhi said it is not a 'Mandal vs kamandal' issue, but a Congress idea to make India a fair country. "What we are saying is different than the idea of only reservations. We want to have a comprehensive understanding... first of what's going on, and then we are going to apply a series of policies to correct it... reservation being one of them."

Gandhi pushed back against the proposal that reservations should be on the economic criteria, arguing that caste is the fundamental issue in India and untouchability is beyond an economic idea. "I don't think it's only an economic idea. I think it's discrimination on many, many different axes."

He rebuffed the suggestion that US should exert pressure on PM Narendra Modi on the issues of "democratic backsliding, persecution of minorities, freedom of press". Rahul said, "The fight for democracy in India is an Indian fight. It has nothing to do with anybody else. It's our problem and we will take care of it." He said that Indian democracy is fighting back, but was broken for the last 10 years when it was under attack.

Mocking the question that Modi has managed the China competition well, Gandhi said, "If you call having Chinese troops in 4,000 sq km of our territory as handling something well, then maybe. We have got Chinese troops occupying land the size of Delhi in Ladakh. I think that's a disaster. I don't think Modi has handled China well at all."

He said the opposition campaign forced Modi to touch the Constitution to his forehead in Parliament, but it's a paradox that "he's destroying the Constitution, attacking the democratic structure, and then the Indian people have forced him to put it (Constitution) on his head".

Gandhi disagreed that the Kashmir issue is holding back Indo-Pak relations, arguing that Islamabad's instigation of terrorism is the reason for the freeze in relations.

He said the Oct 7 attack on Israel was "absolutely wrong", but Israel bombing innocent civilians, killing women and children, is "absolutely wrong and should not be allowed to continue".

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