On Centre’s caste census move, Siddaramaiah questions timing, sees a Bihar poll link

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the Centre’s decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming national census could be politically motivated and possibly tied to assembly elections in Bihar later this year.

Siddaramaiah also said that it was important to conduct a thorough socio-economic and educational survey.

At a press interaction in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah credited Rahul Gandhi’s sustained advocacy for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s decision to enumerate caste in the next census.

Also Read | Census may begin soon, likely to be wrapped up in 2026

“I congratulate Rahul Gandhi more because, for the last five years, he has been urging the Central government to conduct a caste census,” the chief minister said, adding that there had been a long-standing demand for a caste headcount and referred to the Congress party’s manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections which promised a nation-wide socio-economic and caste census to enumerate the castes, sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions.

“We also included it in the manifesto, as well... I feel they might have kept the Bihar election in mind too,” he said, pointing out the urgency with which the Centre appeared to have acted.

Also Read | Terms of Trade: Mandal wins, por ahora

The chief minister said Karnataka had already conducted a caste survey under the Kantharaj Committee in 2015, spending ₹192 crore with the involvement of 1,65,000 people including 1,33,000 enumerators. “However, after our government’s term ended, neither (ex-chief minister BS Yediyurappa) Yediyurappa nor (B) Bommai acted on it despite our pressure,” he said.

On Wednesday, the cabinet committee on political affairs (CCPA) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to enumerate caste-based data collected as part of the upcoming decadal census. As he made the announcement, union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw referred to a similar exercise conducted by some states.

“While some states have conducted surveys to enumerate castes... these surveys have varied in transparency and intent... it has been decided that caste enumeration should be included in the main census instead of being conducted as a separate survey,” Vaishnaw told reporters on Wednesday.

Also Read | The return of caste census

Karnataka minister for minor irrigation NS Boseraju questioned the delay in making the announcement. “We are asking why it took 11 years for Prime Minister Modi to arrive at this decision... There should not be a situation where the union government starts casting aspersions on the work done by the state governments,” Boseraju said.

Labour minister Santosh Lad made the same point. “We welcome the decision... But we are questioning the timing... The world is watching us, especially the Narendra Modi-led government on what our next steps are going to be after the attack in Pahalgam. Announcing the caste census at such a juncture appears to be a case of diverting people’s attention,” Lad said.

He also pointed to Rahul Gandhi’s calls for a national caste census, stressing that the Centre appeared to be repackaging Congress’s proposals. “All this while, they have been critiquing our programmes... Now they are changing its name and making it their project,” he said

Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra said the Centre’s move was long overdue, asserting that the last caste census was conducted in 1931. “Even though Congress was in power for many years, they had not taken up this task,” Vijayendra said.

He also rejected claims that the BJP was borrowing from Congress’s agenda, saying there was no need for the prime minister to take pointers from the Congress.

Vijayendra questioned the credibility of the previous caste survey conducted by the Congress in 2015, saying the government did not even have the original Kantharaj Committee report. “The government doesn’t have a copy of the Kantharaju report (original chair of the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey committee). Jayaprakash Hegde (who succeeded him) wrote a letter to the government saying they don’t have a copy of the original report. So on what basis has this currently been submitted before the cabinet,” he asked.