Anurag Thakur’s ‘caste’ remark sparks uproar, Rahul Gandhi alleges verbal abuse

The Lok Sabha was in uproar on Tuesday after BJP MP Anurag Thakur took a veiled jibe at Congress and Rahul Gandhi over the issue of caste census.

“The one whose caste is not known is talking about the census,” Thakur said. The ‘caste’ remark led to an uproar in the House, with Rahul Gandhi interrupting Thakur’s speech and saying, “You can insult me as much as you want, but you should not forget that we will get the caste census bill passed in Parliament.”

Anurag Thakur, however, said that he did not name anyone in his remark.

Jagdambika Pal, who was presiding over the Lok Sabha proceedings, tried to bring the House into order. However, the MPs continued to voice their discontent.

Amid the din, Rahul Gandhi said, “Whoever in this country speaks for the downtrodden, fights for them, they have to take abuses from others. I will take all the abuses happily… Like Arjun in Mahabharata, I can only see the fish’s eye. We will get caste census done. That’s it. You can abuse me however many times you like.”

He claimed that Anurag Thakur “abused him and insulted him”, but went on to add, “I do not want an apology from him. I do not need it.”

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav also chimed in and asked, “How can you ask someone’s caste? You can not ask anyone’s caste.”