After decision on caste census, Congress wants govt to raise 50% cap on quotas

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Friday on the Pahalgam terror attack and caste enumeration in the decennial census, the Congress demanded that the government come up with a constitution amendment bill to raise the 50% cap on reservation and prodded the government to act against terrorists.

“You got the headline, but what is the deadline?” Congress’ communications chief Jairam Ramesh said, asking about the detailed plan for the caste census. He also recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on April 28, 2004 that those who talk about caste census are urban Naxals and questioned how the PM changed his stand.

“This is jugalbandi (fusion) of u-turns. Now it is understood what is the inspiration for (Bihar CM) Nitish Kumar,” Ramesh said, a reference to Kumar switching from the Mahagathbandan (Grand Alliance), where his party partnered with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress, to the National Democratic Alliance in January 2024 where the Janata Dal-United works with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Friday’s CWC meeting is expected to reiterate the Congress’ complete support for the government on the Pahalgam terror attack and remind the government that victims are still awaiting justice. It is also likely to hail Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s role in pushing for caste census and demand assurance from the government that it will raise the 50% cap on reservation and proper implementation of Article 15 (5) for reservation of OBCs in public and private education institutes.

“The most important national issue is the Pahalgam terror attack and we will discuss it as the biggest political issue before the country in the CWC. The country is still waiting and those who have lost their family members are waiting for justice,” Ramesh said, adding that all Opposition parties have pledged support to the government for any step against terror.

The meeting of the Congress’s top policy making body is the second CWC meeting in less than ten days on Pahalgam attack. The CWC last met on April 24, two days after the terror attack, to pass a resolution. The CWC previously met at Ahmedabad on April 8 followed by an AICC meeting on April 9. The AICC resolution had also repeated the party’s demand for caste census.

While the Union cabinet decision to enumerate caste data in the upcoming census has taken the Congress by surprise, the party emphasised on clarity and deadlines.

“Our demand to the government is to remove the 50% cap through a constitution amendment. This ceiling of 50% was not done by BR Ambedkar. There is no such cap in the Constitution. It was imposed by two judgments of the Supreme Court. But Modi should tell the country why he opposed caste census for 11 years and suddenly he decided to do caste census,” Ramesh added.