New Delhi: As the Centre announced the inclusion of caste enumeration in the next census on Wednesday, Opposition parties said it is a victory for their long-standing demand and the BJP has been compelled to bow to the will of the majority.
“Better late than never,” Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, while former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said the “socialists” have been advocating it for the last 30 years.
“Those who called us casteists for demanding a caste-based census have received a fitting reply. There is still much left to do. We will keep making these Sanghis dance to our agenda,” Yadav said in post in Hindi on X.
Welcoming the decision, leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said they support the government but want a timeline for its implementation.
“We want to know by when it will be done,” he said, adding funds should be allocated for the caste census.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been shying away from implementing this policy of social justice and had “falsely accused the opposition of dividing society”.
He demanded that the government allocate funds to initiate the caste census with “complete transparency”.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas claimed the government has done a “volte-face” in view of the upcoming Bihar elections.
“Welcome the caste census though it is a reversal looking at the Bihar elections,” he said.
CPI(M)y general secretary MA Baby welcomed the decision but stressed that it should be completed in a time-bound fashion.
“Wholeheartedly welcome the CCPA’s decision to conduct caste enumeration as part of the decadal census. However, the failure to declare its timing is regretted,” he said.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the party had raised the issue in its resolution on social justice, which was passed in Ahmedabad on April 9, 2025.
He also shared an April 16, 2023 letter of Kharge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he demanded that the decennial census be carried out and a comprehensive caste census be made a part of it.
Yadav said the “first-ever caste-based survey” in the country was also conducted in Bihar during the 17-month Mahagathbandhan government.
RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said they have made the government bow to their demand. “The government had to concede and announce a caste census, this is a victory of the ‘Bahujan’ (majority),” he said.
CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya called it a “belated acknowledgement” of the popular demand.
“But the way they are targeting states where caste survey has taken place, making oblique comments of political motivation, makes their decision suspicious,” Bhattacharya told PTI.
He, however, added that it is nonetheless a “welcome decision”.
“In Bihar, a caste survey has already been done by the consensus of all political parties. The national caste census should follow initiatives taken by states,” he said.
Elections are due later this year in Bihar where caste dynamics play an important role.
Baby said that a caste census is essential to ensure social justice in the planning and implementation of developmental activities and welfare schemes. “It ought to be completed in a time-bound fashion,” he said.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have been demanding a nationwide caste census, making it a major election issue, and some states like Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka have conducted such surveys.
