It is a full blown war of words between the Opposition and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after BJP MP Anurag Thakur’s speech on caste census in Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Reports say the Congress was considering a privilege motion against Thakur. There was uproar in Parliament on Wednesday over Thakur’s remarks.
While Anurag Thakur’s speech was endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav attacked Thakur asking how can they ask someone’s caste.
Thakur posted a sharp rebuttal to Yadav on X (previously Twitter), where he posted a video of the Samajwadi Party MP asking a journalist’s caste and his name. “How did you ask about caste, Akhilesh ji,” read the caption of Thakur’s post.
The row began during the debate on caste census, a campaign being spearheaded by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. The uproar began when Thakur, in his speech, said, “The one whose caste is not known is talking about the census.” The remark was seen as a direct attack on Rahul Gandhi.
Without mentioning names, Thakur said a few people are “accidental Hindus” and their knowledge of the Mahabharat is also accidental.
Gandhi responded to the remark by saying, “Whoever raises the issues of Adivasi, Dalit, and the backward, is abused. I will happily accept these abuses… Anurag Thakur has abused me and insulted me. But I do not want any apology from him.”
He added, “You can insult me as much as you like but we will pass the caste census in Parliament.”
With inputs from News18
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