Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday took a train from Bilaspur, where he addressed an event, to Raipur in Chhattisgarh.

The ruling Congress has routinely claimed the railway ministry had cancelled 2,600 trains in the state in the last few months, which was causing immense hardship to people, reported the PTI.

Rahul Gandhi had attended `Awas Nyay Sammelan`, an event of the Congress government in the state, in Parsada (Sakri) village in Takhatpur development block of Bilaspur district in the afternoon, as per the PTI.

Rahul Gandhi boarded an Intercity train from Bilaspur along with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, party`s state in charge Kumari Selja and state unit chief Dipak Baij, among others.

In photos shared by the Congress, Rahul Gandhi is seen interacting with passengers.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that his party would conduct a “caste census” if elected to power as only such an exercise would ensure “participation of OBCs, Dalits, tribals and women,” reported the PTI.

Rahul Gandhi also asked why the Narendra Modi government had not released the details of a `caste census` conducted by the Congress (when it was in power) and sought to know if the PM was afraid of such an exercise.

Addressing the state government`s `Awas Nyay Sammelan` in Parsada (Sakri) village in Bilaspur, Gandhi also waved a remote control at the crowd and said the poor and needy were benefited when the Congress presses it, while “Adani gets ports, airports and railway contracts” when the ruling BJP does the same.

“The Congress had conducted a caste census that has the record of the population of every caste in the country. The Union government has this report but Modiji doesn`t want to reveal it,” he claimed.

“Caste census has to be conducted if we want to give participation to Other Backward Classes, Dalits, tribals and women. If Modiji does not conduct a caste census, then when we are elected to power our first step will be to conduct a caste census to ensure OBC participation,” Gandhi asserted.

Gandhi said the government is run by secretaries and cabinet secretaries and not MPs and MLAs, and pointed out that only three of the 90 secretaries in various Union government ministries are OBCs.

These three persons control only 5 per cent of the country`s budget, Gandhi said and questioned if India only had 5 per cent OBC population.

Asserting that the caste census is the answer to such questions, Gandhi asked why Modi was scared of the enumeration exercise.

At the event, during which he launched the Bhupesh Baghel government`s `Gramin Awas Nyay Yojna (GANY)` aimed at providing financial assistance to the homeless and families having kutcha houses in rural areas, Gandhi brandished a remote control to target the Modi government.

(with PTI inputs)

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