Now Reading: Kharge and Rahul demand new caste census method from Modi
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Kharge and Rahul demand new caste census method from Modi
The Story in Brief
Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, rejecting the open-ended question format for the caste count in Census 2027. They argue the method will split a single caste into thousands of names, making the data useless and failing to count OBCs. The letter demands the government scrap the current questionnaire and draft a new one after consulting political parties and experts.
The leaders suggest using a drop-down menu of caste names, as done in the Bihar and Telangana caste surveys and for SC/ST enumeration. They enclosed those caste lists for reference. Congress spokesman Jairam Ramesh said this is the third letter on the issue and accused the government of sabotaging the caste census. No reply has come to the earlier two letters, sent in 2023 and May 2025.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Both sources report the same critique and demand from the Congress leadership, with no editorial framing that favours or criticises the government. The coverage is uniform straight reporting of the opposition's letter and the long-standing lack of a reply. The substantive dispute turns on method: the government's open-ended question versus the opposition's demand for a standardised list. The outcome to track is whether the government responds to the third letter or revises the census questionnaire before enumeration begins.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report), thefederal.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
