BHOPAL: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said if his party comes to power at the Centre, it will conduct a caste-based census to know the exact number of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) people in the country.

The Congress leader was addressing a public meeting in the Kalapipal assembly constituency in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh.

Gandhi’s promise came two days after he pitched for the census and reservation for OBCs in the women’s reservation bill during a discussion in the Lok Sabha.

"Soon after coming to power, the first thing we will do is to go for a caste-based census to know the exact number of OBCs in the country as no one knows their exact number," Gandhi said.

He claimed that the country was being run by only 90 officers, including the cabinet secretary and secretaries, while the BJP MPs and MLAs had no role in framing policies and laws in the country.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and bureaucrats are framing laws instead of elected BJP members, Gandhi alleged. Terming Madhya Pradesh as the "epicentre" of corruption in the country, Gandhi said that scams like Vyapam have rocked the state.

"MBBS degrees are being sold, exam papers are being leaked and sold, and (there is corruption) in the construction of the Mahakal Lok corridor, among others.

He claimed that 18,000 farmers have committed suicide in the last 18 years. It means that three farmers end their lives every day in the state," he alleged.