Rahul Gandhi Engages with Dasrath Manjhi's Family Ahead of Bihar Elections

In a strategic move ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Dasrath Nagar village in Gaya district on Friday. During his visit, he met with the family of Dasrath Manjhi, renowned for his remarkable efforts in carving a path through a mountain in Gehlour village. Gandhi was warmly welcomed by Dasrath's son, Bhagirath Manjhi, who greeted him with traditional hospitality. The leader shared coconut water with the family, listened to their concerns regarding financial hardships, and engaged in serious discussions.

Following his visit, Rahul Gandhi addressed a gathering where he asserted that the Modi government would never conduct a genuine caste census. He claimed that the day such a census is carried out, the political landscape for them would change drastically. Gandhi explained that there are two models for caste census: one proposed by the BJP and another by Telangana. He criticized the BJP's approach, stating that questions were predetermined by officials behind closed doors, with 90% of them being irrelevant. He emphasized the importance of the questions being asked in a caste census.

Gandhi further claimed that in Telangana, they openly consulted the public on the questions for the caste census. They reached out to Dalits, backward classes, tribals, minorities, and their associations to gather input on the types of questions they wanted. Approximately 300,000 individuals contributed to formulating questions during open meetings. The Congress leader pointed out that Narendra Modi often claims to be OBC, yet contradicts himself by stating that caste does not exist in India. He reiterated his commitment to the caste census, having confronted Modi directly in the Lok Sabha, stating that it would happen, and noted Modi's tendency to surrender in such matters.