BJP trying to distract from caste census by triggering controversies through MPs: Rahul Gandhi

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused the BJP of trying to distract people from the idea of caste census by triggering controversies through its MPs Ramesh Bidhuri and Nishikant Dubey.

While speaking at a conclave in New Delhi, the Congress leader said that the BJP wins elections by "distracting" and not allowing us to construct our narrative.

He said that Congress is probably winning Telangana, certainly winning in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and we are very close in Rajasthan which we think we’ll be able to win.

"That is what BJP is also internally saying," he said. 

“We learned a very important lesson in Karnataka, and the lesson was that the BJP wins elections by distracting and not allowing us to construct our narrative,” Rahul Gandhi said at ‘The Conclave 2023’ organised by Pratidin Media Network and shared by the grand old party on its official X handle. 

"And so what we did in Karnataka, we fought the election in a way where the BJP could not define the narrative. What you're seeing today, Bidhuri, and then suddenly this Nishikant Dubey, this is all the BJP trying to distract from the idea of the caste census. They know the caste census is a fundamental thing people of India want and they don't want to have discussion. So every time they bring a point on the table to distract us, we have learned how to deal with it," he said.

"We have learned how to deal with it. In Karnataka, we gave a clear vision, and now we are in control of the narrative. No matter what they (BJP) try to do, we are now in control of the narrative," he said.

A controversy erupted earlier this week after BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri used derogatory and abusive words at Bahujan Samaj Party MP Kunwar Danish Ali, on the floor of the House. 

Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary K.C. Venugopal visited the BSP leader and expressed solidarity with him.

He also said the Congress is controlling the narrative in the states where the elections are due later this year and claimed that the BJP which has “put in thousands of crores of rupees” to control it during the Bharat Jodo Yatra but couldn't do it.

"The opposition is 60 per cent of India's population and BJP is in for a surprise in 2024,” he added.

Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram are scheduled later this year.