"When they have failed in governance, they talk about caste": Anurag Thakur slams Opposition

Hamirpur: Hitting out at the INDIA bloc for demanding a nationwide caste census, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday suggested that the Opposition parties are raising the caste issues because they have 'failed' in their governance.

The Bihar government recently released the results of a caste census on October 6, revealing that the combined population of backward classes and Dalits exceeds 80 percent.
Talking to the reporters here, Thakur also said that the Opposition has changed its name to 'INDI Alliance' from the UPA as they had to 'hide their corrupt face'.

"...Opposition has nowhere to hide their corrupt face... So they changed the name of UPA to INDI Alliance...The kind of words Rahul Gandhi used for the OBC community is in front of the country...He had lost his Lok Sabha membership because of that (Modi surname case)...What will they do? When they have failed in governance, they are talking about caste...Modi government is committed to working for the poor..." Anurag Thakur said.

Gandhi was sentenced to two years imprisonment which disqualified him as an MP from Kerala's Wayanad under the rigours of the Representation of People Act. Supreme Court later stayed his conviction and thereafter his Lok Sabha membership was restored.
After his conviction in the case, Gandhi was disqualified as MP from Kerala's Wayanad on March 24.
Congress leader was sentenced to two years in jail on March 23 under sections 499 and 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in a case filed by Purnesh Modi.

At a rally in Karnataka's Kolar in April 2019, Rahul Gandhi, in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?"