Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi have addressed a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They have raised concerns regarding the ongoing caste census, specifically criticizing the lack of a separate column for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the census questionnaire. This omission has sparked significant debate about the representation of backward classes in the enumeration process.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leader and the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi have written a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, raising questions about the caste census process
The Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha demanded that the government scrap the existing caste census questionnaire and draft a new one after consulting political parties, experts, and the public — ensuring an accurate count of every caste and community. Suggesting that the government create a ‘drop-down’ list of castes, Rahul Gandhi and Kharge noted that such a list could easily be compiled based on existing government lists – such as those for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes and data from the Anthropological Survey of India. Attaching the caste lists used in the surveys conducted in Telangana and Bihar, the Congress leaders pointed out that the same methodology had been employed there. He accused the government of deliberately attempting to put the caste census on the back burner.
“Your government has chosen a misleading method for recording caste information in the census,” the two leaders wrote, elucidating the pitfalls of the process being followed. Releasing the letter at a press conference, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Centre has no real intention of conducting a caste census and described the current situation as a “deception”. A few days ago, while addressing an event organised by the Congress party’s OBC department, Rahul Gandhi made a significant statement, asserting that if the OBC community took to the streets — much like “Gen Z students” — the government will be forced to yield. Earlier reporting noted: Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and Rahul Gandhi, his Lok Sabha counterpart, said reliable caste figures were essential for framing social justice policies and assessing communities’ socio-economic status. Earlier reporting noted: They said the government’s decision to use an open-ended question to record caste details could lead to problems. “Your government has chosen the method of recording caste information in the census using open-ended questions, which is misleading,” they said in the letter.
Earlier reporting noted: ‘Open-ended questions misleading’: Kharge, Rahul Gandhi write to PM Modi, flag caste census concerns Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have objected to the way caste details are proposed to be collected in the upcoming census in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
