Rahul will have to reveal his caste if...: Assam CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hit out at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and said that Rahul Gandhi would have to reveal his caste identity if the census is conducted.

"Earlier Rahul Gandhi used to ask journalists about their caste. Now when people ask him about his caste, he has a problem with it. Will the caste census be conducted without asking about caste? He says I will get the caste census done but will not reveal my caste, how will this happen? Rahul will have to reveal his caste if the census is conducted," Assam CM told reporters on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused BJP MP Anurag Thakur of "abusing and insulting" him during the Lok Sabha discussion on the Union Budget.

Thakur had engaged in a heated exchange with Gandhi, criticising those who questioned the caste census while not revealing their caste.

"Those whose caste is not known, talk about the caste-census. I want to remind the Speaker that in this House itself, a former prime minister RG-1 (Rajiv Gandhi) had opposed reservation for OBCs," the BJP MP said.

In response, Rahul Gandhi said, "Whoever raises the issues of Adivasi, Dalit and the backward, is abused. I will accept these abuses willingly. Anurag Thakur has abused me and insulted me, but I do not want any apology."

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav intervened, questioning Thakur on how one could inquire about a person's caste.

"How can you ask about caste?" Yadav asked Thakur in the Lower House.

The Congress party has promised to pass a constitutional amendment to raise the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent cap on reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), as per its poll manifesto.

The party also promised to conduct a nationwide Socio-Economic and Caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions.