Oppn welcomes decision on caste census, seeks timeline

The Opposition on Wednesday welcomed the Union government’s decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi called it the “first step” and “a new paradigm of development” but demanded that the government remove the 50% cap on caste-based reservation, and use Article 15(5) of the Constitution to implement quotas in private educational institutions.

Gandhi, who was the strongest votary of the caste census, said in a press conference, “We had said we will remove 50% cap on reservation and break the wall. Don’t know what happened, but PM Modi used to say only four people want caste census. We support the government’s decision but we want timelines on when it will be done.”

“This is only the first step. Telangana caste census can be a blue print. We are ready to offer our help to the government to design the caste census. Because design in very important. There is a huge difference between the (census) design of Telangana and Bihar. We want to bring a new paradigm of development through caste census. It is not only about reservation, but we are asking the central question: what would be the representation of SC, ST and OBCs?”

He was referring to the caste survey in Telangana that was conducted in 2024-25.

Calling the caste census “our vision”, Gandhi maintained that the ultimate goal is to increase participation of various caste groups in power structure and their empowerment.

“We see caste census as new paradigm of development. What is the participation of 90% population in power structure? We want to give them participation and power. It doesn’t matter what the BJP thinks. We have shown that we have put pressure on the BJP to do caste census. We are going to show you that we are going to put pressure on the BJP to implement Article 15(5) and also removing the 50% cap,” Gandhi said.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav posted a video of him bursting crackers and tweeted, “Congratulated the social justice activists by bursting crackers on the victory of all socialists including respected Lalu ji who forced the NDA government to re-take the decision of caste census taken by the Union Cabinet of the Janata Dal-led United Front Samajwadi government 29 years ago.”

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav posted an old video of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s speech in the Lok Sabha and tweeted, “Netaji (Mulayam) had strongly raised the issue of caste census in Parliament in every central government because he knew that by not conducting caste census, the rights of the weak and backward people were being snatched away. Netaji knew the sting of tyranny, oppression, exploitation and backwardness and believed that until the governments are shaken and awakened, the traditionally powerful people will neither give anyone a share in power nor their rights...This is the victory of the continuous struggle.”

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said, “Caste Census is essential—not optional—for objective policymaking, targeted welfare, and the pursuit of real social justice. You cannot remedy injustice without first recognising its scale. For the Tamil Nadu Government and DMK, this is a hard-earned victory. We were the first to adopt a resolution in the Legislative Assembly demanding caste census . We championed this cause in every forum. We reiterated this demand in every meeting with the Prime Minister and through multiple letters, consistently urging the Union Government to take responsibility.”

Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy called it a “massive victory in our fight for social justice”. Praising Rahul Gandhi, he said, “We hope this is not yet another symbolic announcement, but one that sees prompt and effective implementation—unlike the Women’s Reservation Act, which, despite being enacted, has seen no tangible progress to date.”

Former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik welcomed the decision and said his party BJD “has been repeatedly demanding countrywide caste census and removal of 50% cap on reservation. In Odisha, we also took certain concrete steps in 2023 to enumerate the number of people belonging to different classes to help us in making plans for their development and upliftment.”

Gandhi hailed the Telangana model and cautioned that the design of the census has to be decided by the people and not by bureaucrats.

“We want a people’s census not a bureaucratic census,” Gandhi said, adding that the Telangana caste census can be a model for the Modi government. “Telangana model has 2-3 principles. It was not designed by some bureaucrats behind closed doors. The community we want to help, are not there in the bureaucracy. The government must speak to people. In Telangana, we have sent up an expert group. They will study data and present a vision for development. Telangana has already broken the 50% barrier,” he said.

He was referring to the Telangana assembly passing two bills in March 2025 that took caste-based reservations in the state to 67%. It is yet to be implemented.

Gandhi called the 50% cap in reservation of government jobs and education as an “impediment”. “We have achieved this by putting pressure on government. It has been a sustained campaign that we have run. I don’t need to comment on when they took it, how they took ...Caste census is only for opening the door. When we get information, other steps will be taken.”