Top Opposition leaders, including Chief Ministers of three states, on Monday strongly pitched for a caste census, and appealed to “cast aside ego” and “fight together” to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Pary (BJP) in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, at a DMK-convened conference on social justice, reported The Indian Express.
In attendance at the first national conference of the ‘All India Federation for Social Justice’ floated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, were Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, among other leaders.
The Opposition parties came together for the hybrid-mode first conference on the theme “Taking Forward the Struggle for Social Justice and Joint National Programme for Social Justice Movement”.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek o’ Brien called out the Biju Janata Dal and the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan-led Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), which were also invited to the conference but didn’t attend, as parties which don’t want to fight the BJP.
“There are still two or three political parties which don’t want to fight the BJP. This is not the time to sit on the fence. I would humbly appeal to Naveen Patnaik of the BJD, you got to be here sir… Jagan Reddy of the YSRCP, I know we keep saying this is not a political platform. Of course these are political platforms, we should not shy away because this is not the time to be grey. Now is the time to be black and white,” O’Brien said.
Stalin appealed to like-minded parties in the Opposition to start study circles to make the new generation aware of social justice and of Periyar, B R Ambedkar and Jyotirao Phule and to spread “the message of federalism, state autonomy, secularism, equality, fraternity, and social justice”.
“Voices for social justice cannot be lone voices. It has to be a united voice. Such unity is not enough if it is only in a few states. We need it in the whole of India. The Federation for Social Justice like this will serve as the foundation for such a movement. Let’s fight together to create an India of social justice, India of equal justice, and India of brotherhood,” Stalin said.
On reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), the Tamil Nadu CM said that class cannot be a credible criterion for reservation, as poor can become rich and rich can become poor as well.
“People can also conceal money despite being rich. We are not against helping the poor, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of destroying the core ideals of social justice,” the DMK chief said.
He added that bringing 10 per cent quota for the economically poor in the upper castes was equal to taking the country 200 years back.
Further, Stalin slammed the BJP government in Karnataka, for scrapping the four per cent backward classes quota for Muslims, saying it was done with eyes on the upcoming Karnataka elections due on May 10.
RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav made a stong pitch for caste census, citing that the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government in Bihar has already announced a caste-based survey which has begun. The deputy CM urged Opposition parties to come together setting aside their egos and said the best way to beat the BJP’s politics of ‘polarisation’ was through social justice-based politics.
Moreover, RJD leader Manoj Jha called for a boycott of census, if there was no caste census.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also spoke in the same line, and said that like-minded parties should come forward to push for the caste-based census and urged CMs of Opposition-ruled states to put pressure on the Centre for it. He added that he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking social security for families according to their needs.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh also called for a caste census and alleged that the BJP is running away from it because its ideological mentor RSS wants the ‘varna system’ to continue, while CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said while reservation for the backward classes is a significant step to open windows of opportunity for them, it has to be accompanied by economic development.
The parties represented at the conference were the DMK, Congress, JMM, RJD, TMC, AAP, CPI, CPI(M), Samajwadi Party, National Conference, NCP, IUML, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, MDMK, Rashtriya Samaj Paksh, Loktantra Suraksha Party, VCK, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi and Dravidar Kazhagam. Three parties which did not attend the conference were Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction), YSRCP and BJP.