The Varanasi unit of the Congress Minority Cell organized a signature drive in the Benia area on Saturday, following a call from Shahnawaz Alam, the state president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Minority Cell, to demand a caste census. This drive is part of a larger, fortnight-long campaign across the state by the Congress Minority Cell. Abdul Hameed Dode, the Varanasi Minority Cell president, led the coordination of the event.
Raghavendra Choubey, president of the Varanasi city unit Congress, noted that backward castes are placing their hopes in the Congress. He expressed that if the backward castes and Dalits rally behind the social justice agenda championed by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, the BJP could face significant challenges in the 2027 elections.
UPCC secretary Fasahat Hussain Babu also commented that the BJP opposes an egalitarian social system. The event saw participation from key figures including Metropolitan Congress president Raghavendra Choubey, Congress state secretary Fasahat Hussain Babu, Minority Congress state general secretary Hasan Mehdi Kabban, Dr. Munir Siddiqui, Abdul Hameed Dode, Dr. Rajesh Gupta, Aslam Khan, former councilor Alisha Soni, Taufiq Qureshi, Noor Alam, Nurul Sheikh, Rais Ahmed, Badre Alam Abul Khair, along with passersby and traders, who all signed in support of the drive.
