Rahul Gandhi’s Caste Census Idea Not Welcome, But UP’s Deputy CM Mentions PM’s Caste Twice

Giridih: If you think it is only Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is not seeking a third term based on his work over the last ten years of his rule. Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi, who has completed 34 months in office, did not mention a word about her work as a minister in her ten-minute-long speech during her nomination rally.

“You have to give one vote for a developed India, for self-reliant India, one vote for women empowerment. I will appeal to you to go for votes in large numbers. Vote and strengthen the hands of Babulal Marandi (BJP state president) and PM Narendra Modi. Bharat Mata ki Jai, Vande Mataram,” she said in Hindi.

As a by-election in Gandey is also taking place along with Koderma, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the by-polls Dilip Verma filed his nomination today. Gandey is one of the six assembly segments that fall under the Koderma Lok Sabha. The party had organized the nomination programme for both candidates. However, when Devi gave her speech, she asked the vote for herself only and not for the Gandey candidate.

The Minister of State for Education represents the Koderma Lok Sabha constituency, which is one of the most educationally backward areas in the country. Koderma parliamentary constituency comprises four assembly segments of Giridih district- Bagodar, Gandey, Jamua and Dhanwar, Bharkatta assembly constituency of Hazaribagh district and Koderma of Koderma district. The region lacks not only development but also educational centers. The only major education institution in the region is Sainik School Tilaiya, established in 1963.

In comparison to the national literacy rate of 72.98% (Census 2011), Koderma has only 66.84%. The national female average is much lower here, at 53.23%, while the nation’s average is 66.63%.

Giridih district, which has four assembly segments of the Koderma constituency, also has a low literacy rate of 63.14%, with less than half of the female population being literate (48.72%).

Uttar Pradesh’s deputy chief minister Keshav Prasahad Mourya also flew in to participate in the nomination rally. Interestingly, Mourya also did not speak much about the Modi government’s work. Instead, he mentioned the Prime Minister’s caste, OBC, twice, emphasizing that the PM works 18 hours a day.

Interestingly, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the party’s campaign recently claimed that Modi and his leaders mention the PM’s caste but when I say to conduct a Caste Census, they say there is no caste in India, but when there is no caste, how he is OBC? He had questioned.

 “I will not say much about the works, as earlier speakers mentioned it. But you know Prime Minister Narendra Modi works 18 hours a day, so if you vote, he will return to do your work,” he said.

The only speaker who mentioned the Modi government’s work was state president Babulal Marandi. Marandi mentioned that PM Modi did a lot for the poor. He said that giving a 5-kilogram ration to the construction of homes and toilets are the works done by the BJP government for the poor.

The event lasted over three hours. Most of the speakers used two slogans—Jai Shri Ram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai either at the beginning of the speech at the end or on both occasions. And talked about two works of the Modi government– construction of the Ram Temple and the removal of Article 370 from Kashmir.

INDIA block candidate Vinod Singh will take on NDA candidate Annapurna Devi. The polling is scheduled on May 20.