Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala addresses a press conference, in Patna, Monday, May 5, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary and MP Randeep Singh Surjewala on Monday (May 5, 2025) lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over caste census.
Mr. Surjewala alleged that the BJP and the RSS had always fiercely opposed the conducting of caste census from the very beginning.
He asserted that the RSS-BJP publicly denied the idea of caste census and the Modi government outrightly rejected it and filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court against caste census.
He said the Modi government also refused to release the report of caste census initiated by the Congress-UPA government in the year 2011 and threw its report in the dustbin.
Accompanied by Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Kumar and other leaders, Mr. Surjewala pointed out that the caste census was both the “need of the hour” and the “determining instrument of social justice”.
“On May 23, 2010 and June 6, 2010, the then RSS Sarkaryavah, Bhaiyyaji Joshi clearly stated that the RSS is against counting caste in census,” Mr. Surjewala said.
He explained that the report of the 2011 caste census conducted by the Congress was presented before the Modi Cabinet on July 16, 2015 and Prime Minister Modi and his government constituted an ‘Expert Group’ under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya to study the report and give a conclusion by doing a caste-wise analysis.
“But the deliberate deception of the Modi government is writ large by its betrayal. Despite the decision of the Cabinet on July 16, 2015, Mr. Modi and his government did not appoint any member in the ‘Expert Group’ and neither did Arvind Panagariya’s Expert Group ever had any meeting. Prime Minister Modi and his government deliberately threw the caste census report, 2011 into the dustbin,” Mr. Surjewala said.
The Congress leader added that on March 10, 2021 and February 8, 2022 regarding caste census, the Modi government clearly refused to conduct when questions were asked by Congress members in Parliament on caste census.
He also said the Modi government made a strong opposition to Bihar’s caste survey.
“When the caste survey was conducted in Bihar, it was challenged in the Supreme Court in ‘Ek Soch, Ek Prayas vs Government of India and others’ (SLP No. 16942/2023). Surprisingly, on August 28, 2023, the Modi government gave an affidavit and completely rejected the right of the Bihar government to conduct caste census. A copy of the Modi government’s affidavit of August 28, 2023 is with me. In its affidavit paragraph 5 clearly states that in the Constitution, only the Government of India has the right to conduct the census and no State can conduct the census,” Mr. Surjewala said.
He explained when the uproar started, the Modi government hurriedly filed a new affidavit after six hours and removed paragraph 5 from it.
“The issue of caste census raised by Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Congress party in every Assembly and the Lok Sabha unnerved the Prime Minister Modi so much that he first insulted those demanding caste census by calling them ‘Urban Naxals’ and then gave the slogan ‘Batenge to Katenge’ in order to oppose the demand of caste census” Mr. Surjewala said.
He asserted that for the Congress, while caste census is an X-ray of the society, it is also the axle of social justice, equality and respect.
Published – May 05, 2025 07:51 pm IST