Caste census is not in BJP's DNA: Congress

Patna, May 5 (IANS) Congress on Monday slammed the BJP government in the Centre over the caste census, saying that a survey based on caste is not in the DNA of the BJP.

“Caste census is not in the DNA of the BJP. The Modi government has obstructed efforts to count the population of deprived sections for several years and even opposed it in the Supreme Court,” said senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala.

He alleged that the BJP has deliberately stalling the caste-based census and denying social justice to Dalits, backward castes, and marginalised communities.

Surjewala cited historical opposition to caste-based enumeration by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP.

“On May 23 and June 6, 2010, RSS leader Bhaiyaji Joshi made it clear that the RSS is against counting castes in the census. These statements were published in the RSS mouthpiece Organiser,” he added.

Calling the caste census a centripetal force of social justice, Surjewala emphasised the Congress party’s longstanding commitment to the issue.

“Congress’s commitment to social justice and caste census are two sides of the same coin,” he said, adding that Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has made caste census his life’s mission and has been fighting for it for the last 11 years.

Surjewala recalled that the UPA government under Congress initiated a Social, Economic, and Caste Census (SECC) in 2011. The final report was submitted to the Modi government on July 3, 2015.

“Instead of acting on it, the Modi government deliberately dumped the report, burying the data essential for implementing caste-based policies,” he alleged.

Surjewala also cited a legal example, pointing out that the Maharashtra government had filed a petition in the Supreme Court (CWP 841/2021) demanding caste data to back OBC reservations in panchayats.

“Shockingly, the Modi government filed an affidavit opposing it on September 21, 2021, stating that asking about caste would derail the entire census process,” he said.

He concluded by stressing the significance of the caste census as a key demand for equitable policy-making and representation, stating that the poor and marginalised are demanding their share based on population and rights.

--IANS

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