Congress will conduct caste census and frame MSP law on priority after coming to power: Rahul Gandhi

Badnawar: Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said conducting a caste census and providing a legal guarantee on the Minimum Support Price for crops will be the first two decisions of the new Congress government after elections.

Addressing a public meeting in Badnawar town in the tribal-dominated Dhar district as part of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Gandhi said the caste census would be a revolutionary step ”as big as green revolution and white revolution”.

”Caste census is a revolutionary step. The moment we come to power at the Centre, we will conduct this exercise. The second thing we will do is to provide a legal guarantee for providing MSP to farmers,” Gandhi said on the last day of his Yatra in MP.

The former Congress president said the caste census will assess the exact number of people belonging to SC, ST, and backward categories in the country.

”The census will reveal the financial status of these sections and their representation in various institutions. It will reveal everything,” he added. Gandhi said Congress is ”committed to doing justice on social and economic fronts. We will also do justice to farmers”.

He said the only demand of the protesting farmers from Haryana and Punjab is the Minimum Support Price for their crops.

”But the BJP government is saying they will not give the MSP. It (the government) has waived Rs 16 lakh crore owed by 100 industrialists, which amounts to the MNREGA budget of 24 years. But they don’t want to waive farmers’ loans,” he alleged.

After we come to power, a law will be framed to ensure that farmers get a certain minimum amount, the Congress MP said.

”We want to work for you as you people stood with us and supported us. We will reciprocate and stand with you in your fight for saving water, forests, and land,” he added. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is scheduled to proceed towards Rajasthan from MP in the evening.