Congress promise of caste census implies redistribution of wealth: Sitharaman

A day after Rahul Gandhi reiterated during his Pune visit the party’s promise in the manifesto on carrying out caste census, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said it implies redistribution of wealth.

Earlier on Friday, Gandhi while addressing a public meeting in the city stressed that his party, if voted to power, will conduct a caste census to know each community’s share in jobs in various sectors with a promise to increase the 50 per cent cap on quota.

Sitharaman said, “Congress leaders have been constantly talking about carrying out X-rays of wealth and caste census. They (Congress) says their poll manifesto doesn’t talk about wealth redistribution, but their leaders are saying the same thing again and again.”

“Therefore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been raising the issue because there is not just a trend but a written word and spoken word as well,” she said.

Through his public meetings, Modi has been repeatedly talking about Congress, if voted to power, plans to redistribute assets to minorities. The Prime Minister has also attacked Congress for giving OBC reservations to Muslims in Karnataka and said that the Constitution doesn’t allow reservation based on caste.

Meanwhile, Sitharaman also claimed that the Congress government in Karnataka did not take action against JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna, accused of sexually abusing women, for fear of losing Vokkaliga votes.

Responding to a question on whether Revanna’s case will have an impact on her party’s performance in Karnataka in the ongoing elections, the minister said, “The Union home minister Amit Shah has already made it very clear that party will not tolerate the matters that go against women and on that, we stand united.”

“The ministers of the Congress government knew what was in the pen drive but they did not think that the safety of women should be their priority. They thought the Vokkaliga votes might go from their hands and decided to remain silent till the time the first phase of Lok Sabha was over. Now they are making it a big issue and pushing it which is typical of Congress and it shows their hypocrisy.”

Prajwal Revanna, an MP and grandson of former prime minister and party president H D Deve Gowda, has been accused in a sex tape scandal. In the videos, Prajwal was purportedly seen getting intimate with several women. He, however, has reportedly gone abroad after sexually explicit videos surfaced.

Asked about BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s son Karan Singh getting a ticket from the party for the Kaiserganj constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Sitharaman said the allegations against the MP had not been proven yet.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers.

“Nothing is proven against Brij Bhushan....even if he is convicted, I would say you want to carry the blame to the son. Even convicted people’s children have been entertained by so many parties,” she said.