Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi declared on Tuesday that Telangana would be the model for the caste census for the entire country and promised to demolish the 50 per cent cap on reservation.

Telangana will start conducting the caste census from tomorrow to 30 November.

The Congress leader accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of hiding the truth about the discrimination that exists in society.

Gandhi, who visited Hyderabad for a few hours on Tuesday, participated in the state-level consultations on caste census at the Gandhian Ideology Centre in Bowenpally. Addressing the gathering, he said unlike the prime minister, he was fully committed to holding a caste census in the country and he had also declared it in the Parliament. “I am fully committed to ensuring not only that caste census happens in Telangana but that Telangana becomes the model for caste census in the country,” he said.

He then went on to announce, “We will demolish the artificial barrier of 50 per cent reservation that has been placed in front of this country. For me, Telangana is the model of the national caste census.”

Explaining why the country needs a caste census, he said, “Let us find out how many Dalits, adivasis, OBCs, minorities, general caste, and women are there in this country. After that, let us find out how wealth is distributed in this country… Let us ask how many Dalits are there in Corporate India. How many OBCs are sitting in the top 500 companies?”

In his address, the LoP also attacked Modi and the BJP accusing them of trying to hide the discrimination in wealth distribution. “The moment I say this, the people in BJP, the leaders of BJP, the prime minister suddenly start to say I am dividing the country. Since when has revealing the truth of this country divided this country… All we are saying is that let us explore the truth of discrimination.”

He said only those who benefit from the discrimination want to hide the truth. He wondered why the prime minister was scared of asking these key questions. “I am still wondering why the PM has not said publicly he wants to challenge the idea of discrimination,” said Gandhi.

He further said, “We don’t want a bureaucratic caste census. The bureaucrats should not decide the questions. This will be an insult to the people of India. We want the common people to decide what questions should be asked. We will get a political instrument and a development instrument to decide on the progress of the country. The caste census will decide the system of governance of this country.”

While appreciating the Telangana Congress leaders for taking up the survey he warned there might be some shortcomings but promised to iron them out.