Union minister Ramdas Athawale bats for one-child norm
Ahmedabad, Sep 4: Union social justice minister Ramdas Athawale on Saturday said his party supports one-child policy as the population growth in the country needs to be controlled for ensuring development.
Asked about a recent remark of Gujarat deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel that people would be able to talk about Constitution and secularism only so long as Hindus are in majority, he said there was no possibility of Hindu population dwindling.
"I do not think there is any question of Hindu population declining. Hindus remain Hindu and Muslims remain Muslim. Hardly one or two Hindus or Muslims convert. The Constitution gives people the right to do what they like, but nobody can force any person to covert," Athawale said, speaking to reporters here.
There would not be much change in the proportion of Hindus and Muslims in the population, he said, adding that "it is not the case that the population of Muslims has risen sharply in all these years".
"There is a need to control the population for the development of the country, irrespective of whether it is the population of Hindus or Muslims," said the Union minister, who heads the Republican Party of India (Athawale group), a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
"If we adopt one family, one child (policy), we would be able to reduce population. For now we have 'hum do, hamare do'....Our party's stand is that to reduce population, there should be a law for 'hum do, hamara ek, (one family, one child)," Athawale said.
He will take up this issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added. Nitin Patel had recently said at a public event that "those talking about the Constitution, laws, secularism will continue to talk only as long as Hindus are in majority in this country... (if) the number of Hindus decreases, and (number of) people of another religion increase, there will be no courts, Lok Sabha, Constitution, secularism, they will all vanish in thin air." Asked about several instances of Dalits facing intimidation for sporting moustache or riding a horse being reported in Gujarat, Athawale, a prominent Dalit leader from Maharashtra, said he will raise the issue with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
"It is true that the caste system continues to exist not only in Gujarat, but across the country. From the point of view of law it has ended, but it continues to exist in the minds of people," he said. He will ask Rupani to take special measures for the protection of Dalits, he added.
Athawale also opined that reservation should be for those whose annual income is below Rs 8 lakh.
The BJP will win in four out of five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Goa -- where Assembly elections are due in coming months, the RPI chief said, making exception for Punjab where the saffron party's alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal has ended.
"RPI will support the BJP in all these four states," he added.
His ministry was working towards ending manual scavenging through a scheme to provide Rs 40,000 each to some 60,000 scavengers in the country, he informed.
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Rahul Gandhi joins Haryana Congress leader's 'Sadbhav Yatra' in Gurugram
Gurugram (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday joined the 'Sadbhav Yatra' of Haryana Congress leader Brijendra Singh here.
Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, reached Gurugram in the evening and joined the yatra. He also walked some distance with Brijendra, state Congress chief Rao Narender Singh and other leaders.
Huge crowds had turned up for the occasion.
Later, Gandhi proceeded to the venue where he addressed a public gathering.
Leader of Opposition in Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other Congress leaders, including Randeep Singh Surjewala, B K Hariprasad, state Congress chief Rao Narender Singh, were also present.
Brijendra Singh had on Thursday said it is a matter of joy for them that Gandhi was joining the 'Sadbhav Yatra' in Gurugram-Badshahpur, "thereby strengthening the Indian National Congress' campaign for brotherhood and harmony".
The 'Sadbhav Yatra' began from Danoda village at Narwana in Jind on October 5, 2025, and has covered 85 of the 90 assembly segments in the state.
The foot march was started by Brijendra Singh, son of Congress veteran Birender Singh, to highlight several national and regional issues.
State Congress chief Rao Narender Singh had asked all party leaders to take part in Friday's event.
Days before his yatra began in October, Brijendra Singh, who narrowly lost the 2024 assembly polls from Jind's Uchana Kalan, accused the ruling BJP of playing "divisive politics" and said that "sadbhav" (harmony) has come under stress in the last decade.
Brijendra Singh was a sitting MP from Hisar for the BJP when he resigned ahead of the 2024 general election and switched over to the Congress. He also alleged that the saffron party creates a wedge in society to achieve its political purpose.
The 'padyatra' has so far covered 85 assembly constituencies in Haryana, traversing more than 2,700 kilometres.
Addressing the public gathering, Brijendra Singh said the yatra is inspired by Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, where he took the party's vision and values directly to the people of the country.
Singh said the yatra has highlighted issues like "Vote Chori" (vote theft), unemployment, poor law and order situation, agrarian distress, and issues related to government employees, labourers and traders.
"Sadbhav (harmony) and bhaichara (brotherhood), which the BJP is attempting to weaken, are the messages of this yatra," he said, adding that its slogan is "Congress ka haath bhaichara ka saath".
"This yatra is a natural extension of the Bharat Jodo Yatra," Brijendra Singh said.
