Congress alleges bid to stall caste census, accuses Modi of ‘misleading’ nation

The Indian National Congress on Sunday alleged that the government intends to put the caste census in "cold storage" and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to amend the women’s reservation law with the agenda of "misleading" the country and engaging in "massive deception".

Article 334-A provides that reservation of seats for women will come into effect only after a census and delimitation exercise.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on X, "It is clear that the Modi government wants to put the caste census in cold storage".

There was no immediate response from the government to the Congress’ claims.

Ramesh noted that on July 20, 2021, the government had informed the Lok Sabha that it had decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population beyond Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Census.

He added that on September 21, 2021, the government submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating it had taken a conscious policy decision not to conduct a caste census.

"On April 28, 2024 in a television interview, the Prime Minister accused the Congress of having an urban naxal mindset for championing the cause of a caste census," Ramesh said.

He further claimed that on April 30, 2025, shortly after the Pahalgam terror attack, the government announced that a caste census would be conducted as part of the upcoming Census.

Referring to a March 30, 2026 press conference, Ramesh said the Registrar-General and Census Commissioner had indicated that most results of Census 2027 would be available within the same year due to its digital format.

"But now the Modi government wants to amend Article 334-A saying that the caste census results will not be available for a few years - overlooking the fact that both Bihar and Telangana completed the comprehensive caste survey in less than six months," he said.

The prime minister is, as usual, "misleading" the country and engaging in massive deception, Ramesh added.

"He now wants to amend what the Parliament had unanimously passed in September 2023. The hidden agenda is simply not to have the caste census," he said.

The Congress’ remarks come ahead of a three-day special session of Parliament beginning April 16, during which the government is expected to introduce bills to implement the Women’s Reservation Act before the 2029 Lok Sabha polls and increase the number of seats to 816, with 273 reserved for women.

The party has also criticised the proposed delimitation exercise linked to the law as "not constitutional" and warned it could have "grave consequences", calling for detailed deliberations after the ongoing Assembly elections.

At a Congress Working Committee meeting, it was decided that party president Mallikarjun Kharge would convene a meeting of top opposition leaders, likely on April 15, to formulate a joint strategy for the "special session" of Parliament scheduled from April 16 to 18.

(with PTI inputs)