'Does Congress Want to Take Away Minority Rights?': PM Modi on Caste Census

"Congress party's call for 'jitna abaadi utna haq' goes against the minorities of the country," the PM said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during an event organised for laying of foundation stone of various developmental projects, at Jagdalpur in Bastar district. 

(Photo: PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday 3 October, said that the Congress party's call for 'jitna abaadi utna haq (the more the population, the more the share in resources)' goes against the rights of the minorities of the country.

"Since yesterday, Congress leaders are saying 'jitni aabadi utna haq'... I was wondering what the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has to say about it. He used to say that minorities have the first right to the country's resources. But now the Congress is saying that the population of a community will decide who will have how much share in a country's resources," said PM Modi while addressing a rally in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district.

"So now do they (Congress) want to decrease the rights of the minority? Do they want to remove the minorities? Should the Hindus, who have the largest population, come forward and take their rights?" he added.

The PM's response came after the government of Bihar, on 2 October, released the caste survey data which showed that at 36.01 percent, EBCs or Extremely Backward Classes form the largest chunk of the state’s population, followed by OBCs at 27.12 percent, SCs at 19.65 percent, general population at 15.52 percent and STs at 1.68 percent.

After the survey findings were made public, several Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi demanded a nationwide caste census to ensure fair allocation of resources.