Minister dares BJP to hold caste census at national level

Hyderabad: Countering the BJP floor leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy’s statement raising doubts on Rahul Gandhi’s caste, Forest and Endowments Minister Konda Surekha demanded BJP to first clear its stand on the caste census. She urged the party to take a stand at national level on the matter and approach the LoP in Lok Sabha formally.

Responding to questions from the media at Gandhi Bhavan following the grievance redressal programme ‘Meet your Minister’, Konda Surekha felt that it would be more appropriate for those who are raising questions about Rahul Gandhi’s caste to directly seek answers from him. She wondered as to why the BJP leaders were eager to know about his caste and felt that these leaders should take a questionnaire on the caste census along with them to him and get their doubts cleared.

Describing the BJP as the political party that creates rifts amongst the castes and religions, she asked why the BJP leadership failed to come clean over the issue. Reiterating the party’s stand that the caste census would curb caste discrimination, she dared the BJP to undertake the exercise at the national level for knowing everyone’s caste, including that of Rahul Gandhi.

The Minister was responding to Maheshwar Reddy’s doubts about Rahul Gandhi’s caste, who, while mentioning his grandfather’s name, Feroze Jehangir Gandhi, wondered if he was a Hindu or Muslim.