In Indian politics, U-turns are not uncommon. But few have been as stark, as sudden, and as politically charged as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent embrace of the caste census– a policy he once ridiculed and resolutely rejected.
In April 2024, PM Modi, in a televised interview, dismissed calls for a caste census, branding its proponents as “urban naxals” – a term heavy with political stigma. Yet, in a striking reversal just months later, his government formally announced that the upcoming national census would include caste-based enumeration, a key demand long championed by the Congress. After over a decade of firm resistance, the volte-face has surprised observers, pleased many, and raised critical new questions.
The Long Road to Reversal
For more than 10 years, the Modi government held its ground. In July 2021, it told Parliament that it had “decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise populations other than SCs and STs.” Just two months later, in a Supreme Court affidavit, the Centre reiterated that excluding OBC data from the census was a deliberate policy choice.
So, what changed?
A Political Victory for Congress
The Congress Party has wasted no time in claiming credit for the shift. At a recent meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), party leaders called the announcement “a victory for Rahul Gandhi,” who has consistently pushed for a caste census – from the 2022 Nav Sankalp Shivir in Udaipur to the 2024 campaign trail.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who had written to the PM in 2023, advocating for an updated caste census and removal of the 50% reservation cap, welcomed the move. But he cautioned that without concrete action, the announcement risked becoming another unfulfilled promise – much like the long-stalled Women’s Reservation Bill.
“No financial allocations have been made, and there’s no roadmap,” read the CWC resolution. The party demanded a clear timeline, a transparent methodology, and a parliamentary debate involving all political parties.
Behind the Pivot
The Modi government has offered no public explanation for its reversal, but political analysts point to electoral calculus. Rahul Gandhi’s recurring slogan “jitniaabadi, utnahaq” (rights proportionate to population) resonated with OBC voters – a crucial but increasingly contested part of the BJP’s support base.
“A caste census has become politically unavoidable,” said a senior Congress strategist. “The Prime Minister likely saw it as essential to avoid alienating non-savarna communities.”
Political analyst Yogendra Yadav described the move as pre-emptive, aimed at neutralising Gandhi’s growing appeal among marginalised groups. He dismissed recent accusations from BJP ministers blaming Congress for delaying the caste census, calling them a diversion. “The ‘original sin’ of burying the proposal began with the Vajpayee government in 2000. If Congress sidelined caste data in 2011, the BJP later suppressed the findings of the Socio-Economic Caste Census.”
Rahul’s push for caste data is not new. At the 2022 Nav Sankalp Shivir, he emphasised the need for data-driven governance. The Congress has repeatedly included the demand in its 2019 and 2024 election manifestos and reaffirmed it at the 2023 Raipur plenary.
“At Udaipur in 2022, he raised the urgent need for accurate caste data to ensure policies reflect the realities of the marginalised,” the CWC noted. “This was reiterated in Raipur and remains central to our vision.”
Quoting Gandhi, the resolution stated that policies of reservation and inclusion “cannot rely on outdated assumptions or arbitrary caps, but must be grounded in facts.”
Hindutva’s Caste Dilemma
The caste census poses a deeper ideological challenge for the BJP and its parent organisation, the RSS. While Hindutva politics claims to unify Hindus across castes, it remains rooted in an upper-caste, especially Brahminical, worldview.
Sociologist Satish Deshpande argues that this contradiction is Hindutva’s greatest vulnerability. “It promises inclusion, but preserves hierarchy. A caste census could expose the socio-economic marginalisation of OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis – fracturing the myth of unity.”
This tension is not new. It dates back to the Poona Pact of 1932. When the British proposed separate electorates for Dalits, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar welcomed it as a step toward political empowerment. But Mahatma Gandhi opposed the plan, fearing it would divide the Hindu society. His hunger strike led to the Poona Pact – a compromise that granted reserved seats but within a unified Hindu electorate.
While hailed as a resolution, the pact embedded caste contradictions into the political fabric. It offered representation without transformation, leaving the upper-caste leadership intact and the marginalised with limited power.
The Politics of Counting
India has the technical capacity to enumerate caste. The 2011 Census recorded over 1,200 religions and 19,500 languages. What’s missing, Deshpande emphasizes, is not the ability to count – but the willingness to confront what the numbers reveal.
The last full caste enumeration occurred in 1931. Post-Independence, the Nehru government viewed caste data as a colonial relic. Yet caste has continued to shape education, employment, and political representation in profound ways.
In post-Mandal India, demands for data have intensified. “You cannot design just policies without knowing who you’re targeting,” says economist and social justice scholar Prof. SukhdeoThorat, currently advising Telangana’s caste survey. He stresses the need for technical rigor and safeguards to prevent misuse.
More Than a Checkbox
Congress leaders caution that the caste census must not become a symbolic checkbox. “This needs to be a serious, time-bound exercise,” said senior leader Bhupesh Baghel. “Not another BJP jumla.”
Echoing this, leaders like Sachin Pilot, SaptagiriUlaka, and Charanjit Singh Channi demanded transparency and urgency. “We’ve seen too many broken promises,” said Ulaka. “We won’t let the caste census suffer the same fate as the Women’s Bill or the ‘2 crore jobs’ pledge.”
The Congress has also renewed its call for implementing Article 15(5), which enables reservations for OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis in private educational institutions – a provision that remains largely unrealised.
A Nation Ready for Reckoning
India is no stranger to large-scale data collection. With decades of experience conducting complex censuses, it is more than capable of enumerating caste. What remains in doubt is the political will to follow through.
The resulting data could reshape national conversations on justice, equity, and power. Used wisely, it could bring India closer to its constitutional promise of equality. Mishandled or delayed, it risks becoming another missed opportunity.
Nearly a century after the last caste census, caste remains at the heart of Indian politics – enduring, unresolved, and too often denied by those in power. The resistance to caste enumeration exposes the discomfort of those who benefit from its invisibility.
As India prepares for this historic exercise, the caste census is no longer just about numbers. It is about recognition – of lives, of histories, and of structural inequalities that continue to shape the republic.