Raj polls: Gajendra Shekhawat, Jairam Ramesh trade barbs over Cong's caste census promise

Archana Sharma

Jaipur, Nov 21 (IANS) A war of words erupted between Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and veteran Congress leader Jairam Ramesh after the grand-old party promised reservations to minorities on the basis of a caste census in its poll manifesto for the November 25 Rajasthan elections.     

Ramesh had earlier accused Shekhawat of spreading confusion over caste census.

Soon after the announcement on Tuesday, Shekhawat told IANS that caste census cannot be carried out by the Congress government as it does not come under the state government's purview.

He also accused the Ashok Gehlot-led state government of "dividing the nation".

Later, Jairam Ramesh launched a broadside against Shekhawat over twitter and said, "Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is spreading confusion regarding caste census."

"Had the Centre conducted a caste census at the national level, then there would not have been a need to conduct it separately at the state level. Why has the central government not got it done yet?", he asked.

"As far as constitutional provisions are concerned, the Supreme Court had refused to ban the caste-based survey being conducted by the Bihar government. Despite that, a caste-based survey was successfully conducted in the state and the data made public," said Ramesh on X.

On Wednesday, Shekhawat said, "Jairam Ramesh ji, I thought that you are one of the few knowledgeable leaders of Congress and would give thoughtful statements but you do not know the difference between caste census and caste survey. Before using the name of the Honorable Court in your politics, you should have improved your common sense."

----IANS

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