# Congress urges PM Modi to scrap caste census questionnaire 2026-08-25T12:27:00+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 5 independent outlets Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw the existing caste census questionnaire, calling its open-ended format "misleading". In a letter dated August 20, the two Leaders of Opposition warned that allowing respondents to state their caste without a standardised list could split the same community into thousands of entries and produce unusable data. The letter, which Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said was the third on the issue with no reply, also flagged the absence of a separate OBC category. Kharge and Gandhi proposed a standardised drop-down list based on existing government records, citing the methods used in Telangana and Bihar caste surveys. They asked the government to prepare a fresh questionnaire after consulting parties, experts and the public. India Today reports Ramesh described the current exercise as a "whitewash". Times Now reports Ramesh accused the government of "self-sabotage". National Herald and Times of India carry the Congress leaders' warning that inaccurate data could affect policies on education, employment, welfare and social justice. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The coverage is uniform straight news reporting across all five outlets, with no discernible pro-government or critical framing in the stories themselves. The Congress letter is the sole news event, and every outlet leads with the same core charge: the open-ended format will fragment data. India Today and Times Now include Ramesh's stronger language ("whitewash", "self-sabotage"), while Times of India and National Herald stay with the letter's own text. No outlet independently examines the government's rationale for the open-ended format or quotes a government response. The absence of the government's side leaves the coverage one-sided, though not slanted. The government's reply, or lack of one, remains the open question. ## Coverage Coverage: 5 sources, 5 neutral - indiatoday.in (neutral report) Straight wire-style reporting, leads with the letter and includes Ramesh's 'whitewash' quote. - nationalheraldindia.com (neutral report) Straight reporting of the letter's contents, no additional framing or comment. - indiatvnews.com (neutral report) Brief wire summary of the letter, no analysis or editorialising. - timesnownews.com (neutral report) Straight reporting, adds Ramesh's press conference remarks but no slant. - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Straight news report, leads with the letter and includes a reader poll. This story was synthesised by AI from the 5 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 5 sources. Last updated 2026-08-25T14:47:27+00:00. Tags: caste census, Jairam Ramesh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/congress-urges-pm-modi-to-scrap-open-ended-caste-census-questionnaire/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/congress-urges-pm-modi-to-scrap-open-ended-caste-census-questionnaire/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/