I’m a Brahmin & Congress’s general secretary: Rahul Gandhi to party

April 14, 2012

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New Delhi, April 14: Post Congress's poor show in UP, recrimination has been mixed with the hunt for a stable vote bank in a state where caste remains a key arbiter of power.

While UP Congress leaders are waiting to see how the party reinvents its caste appeal, the competition and jostling among social groups like OBCs, dalits and upper castes has become the party's focal point. The lament of Brahmin leaders has been particularly loud with Congress's minority-mandal push coming a cropper.

Matters came to an interesting point during a recent review meeting when the upper caste/Brahmin argument was invoked by a local UP leader saw Congress leader Rahul Gandhi rebutting the claim by remarking "I am a Brahmin...and general secretary in the party."

The comment was read as a counter to the argument that the party had ignored its traditional, albeit alienated base, in its quest to regain salience in UP. Although upper castes have lost their dominance in the state, leaders from these sections remain vocal and pushy in their advocacy.

A week after Rahul Gandhi conducted the review of the UP election, leaders are counting on two decisive steps for moving forward - action against non-performers and a clear idea on which social group to lean on. The urgency stems from the view that there should be enough time for party message to reach the grassroots for 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The upper caste, OBC and dalit camps in Congress are vying for the leadership's attention. According to sources, Rahul's review saw leaders speaking of the need to fashion a "base vote" like Yadavs for Samajwadi Party and dalits in case of BSP. Upper castes felt Congress could not ignore its traditional catchment group, particularly as it has switched loyalties and seems open to being wooed.

The poll defeat seems to have complicated the Congress search for a social combination to renew its appeal among voters two decades after the Babri demolition pushed it to the margins. Congress pegged the election campaign on backwards and Muslims. Dalit leaders feel Rahul's strategy to win over key social group, initiated by his visits to their huts, would pay off in the long run. That has led to suspense over the Congress leadership's new choices.

The post-poll audit brought out common refrain from all contending groups: Congress needs a base vote. But sources said it was easier said than done to come up with a target constituency.

While backwards, including MBCs voted for SP, dalits stuck to BSP which, despite the scale of its defeat, was only 3% votes behind the winner. Thakurs, a dominant upper caste, sided with SP. In contrast, Congress bid to woo the Mandal classes, with steel minister Beni Prasad Verma being projected as a mascot of sorts, did not work while the approach put off upper castes.

Sources said the brainstorming evoked sharp reactions with senior leader Ram Lal Rahi saying that focusing on Jatavs and Yadavs was a waste of time as they were not ready to leave BSP and SP. Some others felt Congress needed to keep trying. A leader quoted an election survey to argue a section of Jatavs had left BSP.

No leader opposed the Muslim gambit but most felt it failed because the 4.5% quota was brought up too close to elections and the message did not percolate down to the masses.


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Agencies
April 6,2025

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New Delhi, Apr 6: President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday gave her assent to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which was passed by Parliament earlier this week.

Murmu also gave her assent to the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2025.

"The following Act of Parliament received the assent of the president on April 5, 2025, and is hereby published for general information: The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025," the government said in a notification.

Parliament early on Friday approved the Bill after the Rajya Sabha gave its nod to the contentious legislation following an over 13-hour debate.

The discussion witnessed staunch objections from opposition parties, which termed the Bill "anti-Muslim" as well as "unconstitutional", while the government responded that the "historic reform" would benefit the minority community.

The Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it.

It was passed in the Lok Sabha early on Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.

Parliament had also approved the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, with the Rajya Sabha giving its nod. The Lok Sabha had already given its assent to the Bill.

After the president gave her assent, it has also become a law.

Congress MP Mohammad Jawed and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday challenged the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the Supreme Court, saying it violated constitutional provisions. 

Jawed's plea alleged the Bill imposed "arbitrary restrictions" on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the religious autonomy of the Muslim community.
The petition, filed through advocate Anas Tanwir, said it discriminated against the Muslim community by "imposing restrictions that are not present in the governance of other religious endowments".

Jawed, the Lok Sabha MP from Kishanganj in Bihar, was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Bill and alleged in his plea that it "introduces restrictions on the creation of Waqfs based on the duration of one's religious practice".

In his separate plea, Owaisi said the Bill took away from Waqfs various protections accorded to Waqfs and Hindu, Jain and Sikh religious and charitable endowments alike.

Owaisi's plea, filed by advocate Lzafeer Ahmad, said, "This diminishing of the protection given to Waqfs while retaining them for religious and charitable endowments of other religions constitutes hostile discrimination against Muslims and is violative of articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion."

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Agencies
March 26,2025

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that he was not being given a chance to speak in the House which was being run in a "non-democratic style", and said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had made "unsubstantiated" remarks about him.

Gandhi's remarks came after Birla asked him to follow the rules of procedure that members are expected to observe to uphold the dignity of the House. It was not immediately clear what was the reason for the Speaker to make the observation.

The former Congress president said the Speaker made remarks about him and then adjourned the House without giving him an opportunity to speak.

"The Speaker just got up and left. He did not allow me to speak a word. He was speaking about me, and I don't know what he said about me, all unsubstantiated. I said, 'let me speak as you have spoken about me', but he did not say a word and just left. He adjourned the House when there was no need of it," the former Congress president said.

About 70 Congress Lok Sabha MPs, including deputy leader of Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, party general secretary KC Venugopal and party's whip in the Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore, met the Lok Sabha speaker and raised the "denial" of opportunity to Gandhi to speak in the House.

Speaking with reporters in Parliament House complex, Gandhi said there is a convention that the Leader of Opposition is allowed to speak, but whenever he gets up to speak, he is not allowed to speak.

"So, in what manner is this House being run? We are not being allowed to speak. I have not done anything, I was sitting quietly, I did not speak anything. In the last 7-8 days, I have not been allowed to speak," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

In a democracy, the opposition has a place, and the government has its own place but here there is no place for the opposition, he alleged.

Gandhi said he wanted to speak on Maha Kumbh last week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a statement on it but he was not allowed to speak.

"I wanted to state that it is good that Kumbh happened, and I wanted to speak about unemployment, but I was not allowed to speak. I don't know what thinking or approach does the Speaker have but the truth is we are not being allowed to speak. It (the House) is being run in a non-democratic style," Gandhi claimed.

Earlier, in his remarks, the Speaker said members are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the high standards and dignity of the House.

"Several instances have come to my notice where the conduct of members does not conform to the high standards," the Speaker said.

"In this House, father and daughter, mother and daughter, husband and wife have been members. In this context, I expect the Leader of the Opposition to conduct himself in accordance with Rule 349 that deals with rules to be observed by members in the House," the Speaker said.

"Especially, it is expected of the Leader of the Opposition to conduct himself as per the rules," the Speaker said.

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