CHENNAI: Chief minister M K Stalin joined anti-BJP political leaders from various states in batting for a caste census across the country to streamline reservation and promote social justice.
Stalin, who managed to bring together several opposition leaders on a common platform to fight for social justice on Monday, projected the BJP as a threat to social justice and emphasised the need for all forces opposed to the saffron party to join hands to fight for uplifting the OBCs, SCs and STs.
In his virtual address to the first national conference of the All-India Federation of Social Justice (which he floated in January last year), Stalin said the BJP had committed “daylight murder of social justice” in Karnataka by doing away with 4% reservation for minorities.
The introduction of 10% quota for the economically weaker sections was a “deceitful measure” bypassing the Constitution, which spoke of reservation only for socially and educationally backward sections, the Tamil Nadu CM said.
“The findings of the census should be placed in the public domain,” he said. The caste census should be monitored at the state and national levels, he said.
The hybrid conference turned out to be a show of strength by non-BJP parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Convened by the DMK, the meeting had Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Jharkhand chief ministr Hemant Soren, Bihar deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, former Karnataka CM Veerappa Moily, TMC’s Derek O’Brien, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja joining hands to promote social justice.
Some of the leaders directly attacked the BJP while some made a vocal pitch to strengthen opposition unity to take on the BJP. The event also turned out to be an image booster for Stalin on the national political scene as every other politician praised his efforts fighting for social justice. Even as he attacked BJP, Stalin also underlined the need for greater cohesion among political parties opposed to BJP.
“The struggle for social justice is not an issue of a single state, nor of a set of a few states. It is an issue concerning all states,” said Stalin. The antidote for the venom of discrimination, exclusion, untouchability and slavery is social justice, he added.
The conference sought to project BJP as “pro-upper caste” at a time when the saffron party is accusing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of being anti-OBC for his remarks on the surname Modi.
Tejaswi Yadav said the best way to tackle BJP’s “divisive politics” was through social justice politics. While Ashok Gehlot and Hemant Soren raised concerns about the alleged oppression of OBCs, Tejasvi Yadav underlined the need for a caste census. He said the Bihar government has already announced a caste-based survey.
While Gehlot pitched for social security for all and said like-minded parties should pressure the Centre to carry out a caste census, Soren took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the government had transitioned from “Na khaunga na khane dunga (will not indulge in corruption nor allow others to do so)” to “Na kuch karunga na karne dunga (will do nothing and won’t allow others to work either)”. IUML MP Mohammed Basheer and RJD MP Manoj Jha also called for a caste census.
Thanking Stalin for the initiative, TMC MP Derek O’Brien made a strong pitch for BJD and YSR Congress, which stayed away from the conference, to join hands. “It’s not the time to be grey. It is time to be black or white,” O’Brien said.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, too, underlined the need for political unity among opposition parties to dethrone BJP. “It is vital to capture power to take forward policies of social justice,” he said.
VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan called for the consolidation of all anti-BJP and anti-Sangh Parivar forces “to save the Constitution”.
CPI’s D Raja noted that the unity of SCs/STs and OBCs should be strengthened and wanted reservation extended to the private sector. His CPM counterpart, Sitaram Yechury, said “the corporate-communal nexus that is threatening the social fabric of the country should be tackled head on”.
Stalin, who managed to bring together several opposition leaders on a common platform to fight for social justice on Monday, projected the BJP as a threat to social justice and emphasised the need for all forces opposed to the saffron party to join hands to fight for uplifting the OBCs, SCs and STs.
In his virtual address to the first national conference of the All-India Federation of Social Justice (which he floated in January last year), Stalin said the BJP had committed “daylight murder of social justice” in Karnataka by doing away with 4% reservation for minorities.
The introduction of 10% quota for the economically weaker sections was a “deceitful measure” bypassing the Constitution, which spoke of reservation only for socially and educationally backward sections, the Tamil Nadu CM said.
“The findings of the census should be placed in the public domain,” he said. The caste census should be monitored at the state and national levels, he said.
The hybrid conference turned out to be a show of strength by non-BJP parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Convened by the DMK, the meeting had Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Jharkhand chief ministr Hemant Soren, Bihar deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, former Karnataka CM Veerappa Moily, TMC’s Derek O’Brien, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja joining hands to promote social justice.
Some of the leaders directly attacked the BJP while some made a vocal pitch to strengthen opposition unity to take on the BJP. The event also turned out to be an image booster for Stalin on the national political scene as every other politician praised his efforts fighting for social justice. Even as he attacked BJP, Stalin also underlined the need for greater cohesion among political parties opposed to BJP.
“The struggle for social justice is not an issue of a single state, nor of a set of a few states. It is an issue concerning all states,” said Stalin. The antidote for the venom of discrimination, exclusion, untouchability and slavery is social justice, he added.
The conference sought to project BJP as “pro-upper caste” at a time when the saffron party is accusing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of being anti-OBC for his remarks on the surname Modi.
Tejaswi Yadav said the best way to tackle BJP’s “divisive politics” was through social justice politics. While Ashok Gehlot and Hemant Soren raised concerns about the alleged oppression of OBCs, Tejasvi Yadav underlined the need for a caste census. He said the Bihar government has already announced a caste-based survey.
While Gehlot pitched for social security for all and said like-minded parties should pressure the Centre to carry out a caste census, Soren took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the government had transitioned from “Na khaunga na khane dunga (will not indulge in corruption nor allow others to do so)” to “Na kuch karunga na karne dunga (will do nothing and won’t allow others to work either)”. IUML MP Mohammed Basheer and RJD MP Manoj Jha also called for a caste census.
Thanking Stalin for the initiative, TMC MP Derek O’Brien made a strong pitch for BJD and YSR Congress, which stayed away from the conference, to join hands. “It’s not the time to be grey. It is time to be black or white,” O’Brien said.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, too, underlined the need for political unity among opposition parties to dethrone BJP. “It is vital to capture power to take forward policies of social justice,” he said.
VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan called for the consolidation of all anti-BJP and anti-Sangh Parivar forces “to save the Constitution”.
CPI’s D Raja noted that the unity of SCs/STs and OBCs should be strengthened and wanted reservation extended to the private sector. His CPM counterpart, Sitaram Yechury, said “the corporate-communal nexus that is threatening the social fabric of the country should be tackled head on”.
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The post is published through a syndicated feed and attributed to Times Of India
