NEW DELHI: This is not fiction, but a story in action happening for the past few years. Somewhere in an office of a private company in NOIDA, three persons sitting side by side for eight hours six days a week for the last four years have established a bonhomie between them. They share lunch and snacks and also keep each other posted on the office gossip and their moments of ups and downs.
But, a few days ago, one of the three was a little anxious. On being quizzed by the other two, he said he was concerned by the caste talks going around which were being splashed on social media and news channels. He felt Rahul Gandhi’s talks about Dalits, SCs and STs would only add to animosities and make life difficult for his caste people, Dalits.
Hearing this, the other two, who had never bothered about the caste status of each other, went silent. The three are from the Dalit, Rajput and Brahmin castes, but this never came up during their four-year colleagueship. The Dalit member even brought Lord Ram replicas for the other two who were too happy to get the ‘spiritual’ gifts.
Nearly 1, 500 km away in Mumbai, a group of family friends is preparing for the marriage of the daughter of one of them. They are all from different castes and subcastes but that does not matter to them. All that matters is standing with each other in moments of grief and happiness, which they have been doing for the past several years. Rahul Gandhi’s caste-talk is like a distaste for them and they believe that it is only for power-grabbing. They never felt that there was anything caste-like between them and what matters to them is standing together in adverse and happy times.
There may be a million similar stories happening silently in the country, a definite change seeping into the country. But, why is this change not being observed and given importance by the politicians?
The question may not be very difficult to answer. There is a famous quote, “A person, no matter how desperate the situation, gives others hope, is a true leader.” But here we have leaders who are creating desperate situations to be the leaders.
Is Rahul Gandhi talking about castes to find the formula to break the BJP and come back to power? Congress has been out of power for the past ten years and has faced decimation in several states. But, being in the INDIA bloc has benefitted the party greatly and this was seen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when it won 99 seats.
Rahul Gandhi and his team in the grand old party, after several hits and trials, have finally zeroed in on caste politics, which they believe is the only way to break the BJP’s spell and beat Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress leader has been demanding a caste census, claiming this is the right way to provide justice. He has been pointedly attacking the government with caste discrimination allegations.
Last year during a discussion on the Women Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha, he pushed for a separate quota for OBCs in the bill and also pushed for the Caste Census data to be released. In 2023 also, he said, "I was shocked that out of 90 people (Secretaries) who controlled the government of India, only three are from the OBC community."
More recently, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha displayed a photo of the halwa ceremony that preceded the Union Budget presentation, saying there was no Dalit, Adivasi or Backward Class person in the picture. He said 20 officers worked on preparing the country's budget and of them, only one was from the minority community and one from the OBC.
The Finance Minister called his bluff by saying that this is a tradition of serving something sweet before starting any good work. “When did it become a photo event? In 2013-14, why didn't he ask the then finance minister about how many Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were there in the ministry?" She even questioned the number of SCs, STs, and OBCs in the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust.
Rahul Gandhi’s aggressive posture on caste politics, however, contrasts his party’s stance on the sensitive topic since Independence. In fact, his party and his political dynasty had always stayed away from caste rhetoric.
In 1951, PM Jawaharlal Nehru had opposed the caste census. Nehru had written on June 27, 1961, “I dislike any kind of reservations, more particularly in service. I react strongly against anything which leads to inefficiency and second-rate standards”. This was mentioned by FM Sitharaman while replying to the discussion on the Union Budget 2024 in Parliament.
Indira Gandhi put the report of the Mandal Commission, which was ordered by the Janata Party government in 1977, in cold storage even though it was submitted in 1980. To counter this, in 1980 she coined a slogan to counter caste-based parties -- “Na jaat par na paat par, mohar lagegi haath par (Not on caste or community, vote for Congress."
Rajiv Gandhi also ignored the Mandal Commission report. When the then Central government implemented it, the Late PM had termed it as an attempt to divide the country on caste lines.
During his speech in the Lok Sabha on September 6, 1990, Rajiv Gandhi said: “The Prime Minister (V.P. Singh) does not have the guts to stand up and say whether he believes in a casteless society or does not believe in a casteless society. It is very sad... Raja Sahib is putting the caste into our society, once again. He is ensuring that caste does not go out by this action and by sticking to his guns on this issue of caste.”
The late PM had insisted on a casteless society. “…Our goal today must be a casteless society. Let us be clear about that…”
But, almost 34 years later, his son Rahul Gandhi is invoking caste on every platform and every day, even asking people, including journalists, about their castes.
This is what gives some concern to the three in that NOIDA office. Sharing a talk over lunchtime during the break time, the three feel that this must stop and Rajiv Gandhi's dream was better -- a casteless society.