BHOPAL: Shivraj Singh Chouhan government came under sharp criticism in April when selected police constables under reserved category were marked SC, ST and OBC on their bare chests during their physical examination in Dhar district. Though the state Congress had protested then, the party now wants to know the caste and sub-castes of its tickets aspirants and Mahila Congress members.A large number of Mahila Congress workers gathered in the PCC conference hall on Saturday for an organisational meeting with their national president Sushmita Dev , PCC chief Kamal Nath and leader of Opposition Ajay Singh. These women workers were asked to fill-in a form giving their personal details including name, father’s/husband’s name, date of birth, address, experience, educational qualifications, phone numbers, their opinion about the Congress party and their caste plus sub-caste.Congress’ tickets aspirants for the November assembly polls have also given forms to fill-up with their personal details and specifications of the constituency from where they are seeking candidature. In this form Congress party asked for the name of the present legislator from the seat, total number of voters and the number of voters from each caste.Asked why the party that had condemned marking of police constable examinees now asking for the caste and sub-caste of women workers and voters, state Congress media committee chairman Manak Agarwal said, “The system is such that caste data is required for everything. Even the country’s census asks for your caste. For the Congress party, careful caste calculations are required while distributing tickets. Giving all tickets to one caste would generate anger.”State PCC spokesman Ravi Saxena explained, “The reason is not to humiliate or look down upon anyone. During elections, every political party calculates votes of certain communities and we decide tickets accordingly. There are also some reserved posts and seats that have to be allotted to persons of certain castes. The party needs to know who belongs to which caste so candidature can be decided. It is only for that particular calculation that the party asks for caste and sub-caste details.”

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