Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 1 (ANI): Days after BJP MP Anurag Thakur’s alleged caste remarks on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sparked a row in parliament, Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav said on Thursday that the remarks made by the BJP leader were personal and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla should have taken action against him.
Speaking with ANI, Shivpal Yadav said, “When we sought the caste census, this was the issue of society. In Lok Sabha, the remark that was made about Rahul Gandhi was personal, the Speaker should have taken action against that MP. If something like this was done by an opposition leader, he would have been removed from Parliament. Since they are the ruling party, no action has been taken.”
On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi accused BJP MP Anurag Thakur of “abusing and insulting” him during the Lok Sabha discussion on the Union Budget. Thakur had engaged in a heated exchange with Gandhi, criticising those who question the caste census while claiming their own caste is unknown.”
Those whose caste is not known, talk about the caste-census. I want to remind the Speaker that in this House itself, a former prime minister, RG-1 (Rajiv Gandhi), opposed reservation for OBCs,” the BJP MP Anurag Thakur said.
In response, Rahul Gandhi said, “Whoever raises the issues of Adivasi, Dalit and the backward, is abused. I will accept these abuses willingly…Anurag Thakur has abused me and insulted me, but I do not want any apology.”Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav intervened, questioning Thakur on how one could inquire about a person’s caste.”
How can you ask about caste?” Yadav asked Thakur in the Lower House.
The Congress party has promised to pass a constitutional amendment to raise the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent cap on reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), as per its poll manifesto.
The party also promised to conduct a nationwide socio-economic and caste census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions. (ANI)
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