Congress Contrdicts Over "Jitni Abadi Utna Haq" Slogan (image:twitter.com/Abhishek Singhvi)
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s remark over “jitni abadi utna haq” (greater population, greater right) on Tuesday contradicts Rahul Gandhi, former Congress President’s stand in this regard.
In context of recent Bihar caste-based survey results, Mr. Singhvi made a statement “jitni abadi utna haq,” i.e., giving rights based on population will lead to “majoritarianism.” He wrote on X: “Equality of opportunity is never the same as equality of outcomes. People endorsing #jitniabadiutnahaq have to first completely understand the consequences of it. It will eventually culminate into majoritarianism” (He later deleted the tweet).
Ironically, it was Mr. Gandhi popularised the slogan.
When Bihar’s survey results were out, Mr Gandhi pushed the slogan “jitni abadi utna haq.” In X, citing Bihar’s caste census data, he stressed about the importance of knowing the caste statistics of India. Mr Gandhi then added that our pledge should be greater the population, the greater the rights.
बिहार की जातिगत जनगणना से पता चला है कि वहां OBC + SC + ST 84% हैं।
केंद्र सरकार के 90 सचिवों में सिर्फ़ 3 OBC हैं, जो भारत का मात्र 5% बजट संभालते हैं!
इसलिए, भारत के जातिगत आंकड़े जानना ज़रूरी है। जितनी आबादी, उतना हक़ – ये हमारा प्रण है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 2, 2023
Reacting to Mr. Singhvi’s tweet, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh wrote on X that it is his “personal view,” and it is “no way does it reflect the position of the Indian National Congress.” For reference, he cited Raipur Declaration on 26th February, 2023 and CWC Resolution of September 16th, 2023.
Dr. Singhvi”s tweet may be a reflection of his own personal view but in no way does it reflect the position of the Indian National Congress — the essence of which is contained both in the Raipur Declaration on 26th February, 2023 and in the CWC Resolution of September 16th, 2023.
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) October 3, 2023
After Mr. Ramesh’s post, Dr Singhvi has deleted his post.
Meanwhile, while addressing a rally in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has criticised Congress over Mr Gandhi”s slogan. Referring the slogan, he said he is wondering what would be former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh thoughts on this matter, since he used to say that “minority has the first right to the country”s resources”.
He then asked: “So now do they (Congress) want to decrease the rights of the minority? Do they want to remove the minorities?… So, should the Hindus, who have the largest population, come forward and take all their rights?”
It was on Monday, the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government released much awaited caste-based survey results. As per the findings, among the 13-crore population, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) constitute 63% per cent, Scheduled Castes (SC) constitutes over 19 per cent, Scheduled Tribes (ST) marks 1.68 per cent, and the general population, the “unreserved category” is about 15.52%.
