What the public sees through Congress’s caste census victory lap

New Delhi: For a party that has long positioned itself as the vanguard of social justice, the Congress’s record on the caste census stands as a damning indictment—defined not by action, but by avoidance. Since India’s independence, the Congress has consistently resisted the call for a comprehensive caste census, choosing instead to operate in a data vacuum that has left backward and marginalised communities invisible in policymaking.

Despite repeated demands from regional parties and social justice advocates, Congress-led governments chose silence over transparency, politics over equity. The last full-fledged caste census in India dates back to 1931, conducted under British rule. The 1941 Census, while collecting caste data, never saw the light of day due to World War II. What followed under Congress rule was a deliberate erasure—beginning with the 1951 Census where caste enumeration was consciously dropped.

Congress’s calculated silence and missed opportunities

The exclusion of caste data was not born of logistical incapacity—it was a political decision. From the first post-independence census in 1951 onward, successive Congress governments rejected the idea of caste enumeration, even as OBC-dominated regional forces pressed for it to ensure proportional allocation of welfare schemes and political representation.

Even during the UPA years, when the opportunity was ripe to correct the historic wrong, Congress stumbled yet again. In 2010, then Law Minister Veerappa Moily urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to include caste data in the 2011 Census. The request was deflected, minimised under the guise of logistical complexity. A half-measure followed: the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) was commissioned—but critically, conducted separately from the main Census, diluting its impact and credibility.

The SECC consumed nearly ₹5,000 crore in taxpayer funds. Yet, only the socio-economic data was published. The caste data collected—central to understanding the actual structure of India’s social fabric—remains buried. The deliberate suppression of that data left SCs, STs, and OBCs in the dark, stripped of a tool that could have rebalanced India's inequitable systems.

Karnataka’s charade of a caste survey

In recent years, states like Bihar, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh—all non-BJP ruled—have moved forward with caste surveys. But Karnataka’s conduct under the Congress-led Siddaramaiah government stands out for its duplicity.

In 2015, the state commissioned a “Socio-Economic and Educational Survey,” touted as a caste census. Yet, despite its completion, the report was buried—resurrected only in February 2024 under pressure from within the Congress leadership. Even Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, a prominent Vokkaliga leader, opposed its release fearing backlash from dominant caste groups. Congress’s reluctance to offend its elite vote banks took precedence over a transparent reckoning with caste realities.

What emerged was a disturbing pattern: caste surveys being used not to empower but to engineer electoral advantage—deepening divisions without providing real solutions.

Fake surveys, wasted resources

As state after state commissions piecemeal caste surveys, the Modi government has made a compelling case for a comprehensive, scientific, nationwide caste census—one that is transparent, inclusive, and future-facing. Such a census would render redundant the half-hearted, politically motivated exercises undertaken at state levels—Karnataka’s nine-year suppression of its 2015 survey being the most damning example.

Congress, it seems, is less interested in facts than in control. The truth, after all, may disrupt carefully constructed vote bank coalitions.

A legacy of humiliating backward and marginalised leaders

Congress’s discomfort with backward classes is not limited to policy. Its treatment of leaders from these communities tells a parallel story of exclusion.

Sitaram Kesri, an OBC stalwart and former Congress President, was unceremoniously evicted to make way for Sonia Gandhi. OBC CM Virendra Patil was dismissed without dignity. Jagjivan Ram, one of India’s most respected Dalit leaders, was denied his rightful rise within the Congress system.

Ambedkar, architect of the Constitution, faced Congress opposition that led to his resignation over the Hindu Code Bill. Ram Nath Kovind, the second Dalit President of India, was never visited by Sonia Gandhi during his tenure. Droupadi Murmu, the first tribal woman President, was mocked with pronoun slurs by senior Congress leaders like Siddaramaiah.

BJP acts, Congress dithers

In stark contrast, the Modi government has taken proactive steps. A national committee was appointed to explore internal reservations for SC communities. This initiative has forced even Congress-led governments to follow suit, as seen in Telangana’s 2024 SEEEPC survey—covering 98% of the state’s population. But the gap remains in intent.

Karnataka, again under Siddaramaiah, announced the Justice Nagmohan Das Commission in November 2024 to recommend internal reservations among 101 SC sub-communities. The commission submitted its report. But the Congress government shelved it. No implementation. No dialogue. Just another report gathering dust.

Congress’s caste census contradictions

The 2011 SECC, launched under the UPA, was shrouded in secrecy. Despite claims of data collection, caste-specific findings were never published. Critics called out the lack of transparency and the obvious political hesitation to disturb entrenched caste equations.

The Mandal Commission recommendations, which were eventually implemented in 1990, also suffered from Congress’s delayed embrace. The party, while publicly supporting OBC reservations, never backed its implementation with updated, credible caste data. Time and again, its actions—or lack thereof—have been guided by political calculus rather than social justice.

Time for facts, not fear

A nationwide caste census is not a mere data collection exercise—it is a tool of empowerment, accountability, and equitable governance. It is the key to understanding who we are as a nation and where our policies should go. It can no longer be delayed, distorted, or denied for political convenience.

Congress had 70 years to act. It chose not to.

Now, with the BJP leading the charge for transparency and inclusion, it is evident who truly champions social justice—and who merely campaigns on it.

The time for ambiguity is over. The caste census must reflect the real face of India. And the truth—however inconvenient—must finally be told.