BJP Backs Caste Census Before Bihar Election After Years of Delay

Six months before the Assembly election in Bihar—the cauldron of caste politics—the Centre, in a surprise move on April 30, announced that caste enumeration would be conducted as part of the upcoming Census.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of a sustained campaign by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for a nationwide caste census over the past two years, and the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government having already conducted and published a caste survey. That survey triggered calls for increased reservations proportional to caste populations. However, in July 2023, the Patna High Court struck down the Bihar government’s attempt to raise quotas for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), despite survey findings indicating their numerical dominance.

Not just Bihar—States such as Karnataka and Telangana have also undertaken caste surveys. But in several instances, High Courts across India have struck down attempts to increase reservation quotas beyond the constitutional cap of 50 per cent.

The last census to collect comprehensive caste data (including on OBCs) was conducted in 1931. Since 1951, censuses have included data only on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, not on all caste groups. A Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) was carried out in 2011, but its data were never officially published in full, especially the caste-wise details.

The Narendra Modi government had earlier been reluctant on the issue. In February 2021 and July 2023, Nityanand Rai, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, told Parliament that there were no plans to include caste data in the upcoming Census. In September 2021, the Centre told the Supreme Court that “caste-wise enumeration in the Census was given up as a matter of policy from 1951 onwards”.

However, in a significant shift, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on April 30 announced that caste enumeration would be conducted in a “transparent manner”, criticising States for conducting earlier surveys non-transparently. Vaishnaw conveyed the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs’ decision to include caste enumeration in the decennial Census.

Vaishnaw also pointedly accused the Congress of opposing a caste census historically and using the issue as a “political tool”. “Considering all these facts, and to ensure that the social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be transparently included in the Census instead of surveys,” he said.

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Congress leaders responded swiftly, crediting Rahul Gandhi with pushing the demand to the national forefront. Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy posted on X that Rahul Gandhi was the “first to demand a nationwide caste census” during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, and that “Telangana was the first State to conduct a caste survey last year.”

“It is a proud moment that Shri Rahul Gandhi has shown how his vision has become policy even while in opposition. Telangana’s efforts for OBC empowerment have inspired the nation,” Reddy said.

Congress leaders pointed out that this was not the first time the Narendra Modi government had accepted Rahul Gandhi’s demands—recalling the rollback of the land acquisition Bill during Modi’s first term, and the repeal of the farm laws during his second.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge welcomed the Union Cabinet’s move as a “step in the right direction”, emphasising that the INDIA bloc had consistently raised the issue and made it a key campaign point in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

In a statement, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad recalled that during his tenure as president of the Janata Dal, the United Front government had decided in a 1996-97 Cabinet meeting to carry out caste enumeration in the 2001 Census—a decision he claimed was not implemented by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

“We raised the demand again in 2011. I, along with Mulayam Singh Yadav and Sharad Yadav, stalled Parliament until Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed to conduct a socio-economic survey,” Lalu Prasad said. “The first caste survey in India was conducted under the Mahagathbandhan [RJD–Janata Dal (United)–Congress] government in Bihar.”

Bihar BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal hailed the Modi government’s decision, saying: “The nation can now formulate policies for the deprived and exploited based on accurate data.” He accused the Congress and the RJD of misleading the public and engaging in “caste appeasement politics”, calling the Cabinet’s move a “historic decision” and a “milestone” in national development.

Ashwini Vaishnaw also criticised the United Progressive Alliance government’s 2011 SECC, calling it a token gesture. He juxtaposed this with Modi’s 2019 move to grant 10 per cent reservation to Economically Weaker Sections, arguing that the current government had shown a “balanced and inclusive” approach.

Clearly, the BJP is seeking to blunt the caste-based mobilisation of the Congress and regional parties—not just in Bihar, where elections are due later this year, but also in Uttar Pradesh, where the Samajwadi Party’s PDA (Pichchda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) narrative cornered the BJP in the 2024 general election.

While Bihar is considered the cradle of social justice politics, States such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and parts of south India have witnessed powerful anti-caste, anti-hegemony movements led by backward and marginalised communities.

With Narendra Modi identifying as an Extremely Backward Class leader and Nitish Kumar, now part of the NDA again, being an OBC leader, the BJP hopes to deepen its connect with subaltern communities.

The senior journalist Rasheed Kidwai told Frontline: “A mere announcement of a caste census is meaningless in substantive terms, but high on optics and political rhetoric. Numbers won’t mean much unless they’re weaponised to seek quotas and sub-quotas in jobs and education proportional to caste representation.”

He also suggested that a mid-term Lok Sabha election—possibly along with the Bihar election later this year—cannot be ruled out. “The BJP’s top leadership, confident on the planks of national security and patriotism, seems determined to realise its dream of 400 paar [400 plus],” Kidwai said.

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Ajay Gudavarthy, Associate Professor of Political Science at the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Frontline: “This is undoubtedly a victory for the Opposition parties and for the social justice agenda. The BJP is clearly concerned about the counter-narrative, but the move also demonstrates its political agility and responsiveness to popular demands. However, it remains to be seen whether the BJP will genuinely carry out the caste census or if this is merely optics—similar to its handling of the pending Rohini Commission report and the Women’s Reservation Bill. The Opposition must continue applying pressure for this promise to materialise.”

Gudavarthy added: “We will have to wait and watch. If the caste census is indeed conducted, what impact will it have on the BJP’s ability to mobilise a homogenous Hindu majority? Can the party use caste data to shape welfare policies without alienating its Hindu constituency? What’s clear is that the empty cultural rhetoric of Hindu identity no longer holds the same political potency it once did.”

As claims and counterclaims continue to swirl, one thing is certain: not just the months leading up to the Bihar Assembly election, but the years ahead are likely to witness intense political churn around the caste census issue.