28 December,2023 03:48 PM IST | Nagpur | mid-day online correspondent
Ashok Chavan. File Pic
Ashok Chavan on Thursday said that the caste-based census can offer better social justice, but the BJP is opposing it, reported the PTI.
The former Maharashtra CM accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of opposing caste-based census and stressed that it could offer better social justice to the people.
Speaking in Nagpur district of Maharashtra during a Congress rally, organised on the occasion of its 139th foundation day, Ashok Chavan said that his party wants a caste-based census in the entire country.
"The Congress is also of the opinion that the 50 per cent cap on reservation should be lifted. The whole exercise (caste-based census) would help address reservation-related issues in all the states, but the BJP is opposing this move," he said, according to the PTI.
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Targeting the BJP, Chavan said there have been serious attempts to divert attention from such matters, while some "non-issues" are being turned into "issues".
"The current dispensation is trying to pit one community against another in the state. Maratha versus OBCs, Dalits versus others, SC versus ST communities among others," he said.
"This is a classic way to divert attention from real issues in the state," Ashok Chavan said.
The Congress leader also claimed that people have learned that the past "ten years were a waste" because of the BJP rule at the Centre.
"Many people said that they want to make India a Congress-free country. One must not forget that there is no news about those people but the Congress party has remained intact," he said.
Meanwhile, the Congress kickstarted its campaign for next year's Lok Sabha elections with its mega rally 'Hain Tayyar Hum' in Maharashtra's Nagpur city on Thursday, the party's 139th foundation day.
"It will be a historic moment for the people of the country," Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Wednesday said addressing a press conference at the venue of the event, as per the PTI.
The party will give a message of change to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre, he said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will address the rally, according to party leaders.
The mega event assumes significance as it will be held in Nagpur, where the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) headquarters and 'Deekshabhoomi', the historic place where Dr B R Ambedkar embraced Buddhism, are located.
(with PTI inputs)
