Caste census in works since 2024 polls

BJP LEADERS SAID THE PARTY WAS DISCUSSING THE ISSUE WITH THE TOP BRASS AT RSS AFTER LAST YEAR'S LOK SABHA POLLS

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran

NEW DELHI: The Union government's unexpected announcement of enumerating caste along with the upcoming decadal census may have caught the opposition unawares, but senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have said that the work to lay the ground for the challenging exercise began months in advance.

The party had in the past seemed opposed to the idea of a caste census. Many of its leaders, including Union minister Nitin Gadkari, targeted opposition parties for making a demand that they viewed as having the potential to cleave the country, although Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the party has been dropping hints about a caste census for at least a year.

It isn't clear when the party decided to back a caste census, but at least two senior party leaders added that the BJP started discussing the issue with the top brass of the party's ideological fount, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), after last year's general elections.