Coming Around to Caste

Electoral compulsions have forced the BJP to conduct the caste census

- E. Venkatesu IS WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF HYDERABAD

THREE perceptions emerged after the decision of the Union Cabinet committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on April 30 to conduct a caste enumeration in the forthcoming census. The first is that when the entire country was expecting retaliatory action against the terror attack on tourists at Pahalgam on April 22, the sudden decision of conducting the caste census was taken. The second perception is that assembly elections are due in Muslim-dominated states like Bihar, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to create a rift between them and the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) so that the OBC vote bank can be retained. The third is that the popularity of Rahul Gandhi has been increasing due to his consistent campaign for the protection of the Constitution, the caste census and the lifting of the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations. As per the electoral promise, the findings of the caste census in Congress-ruled states such as Telangana and Karnataka are to be revealed to the public. Therefore, with the growing popularity of Rahul Gandhi in particular and the Congress in general, the need of the hour is for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to drum up support for their proactive decision to carry out the caste census. The truth is that there have been deficiencies in policymaking with reference to OBCs in post-Independent India due to the lack of evidence-based data after abandoning the colonial legacy of the caste census. The deficiencies in the data were perpetuated by the Congress, the Communists and the BJP for more nine decades, right from the caste census of 1941. That resulted in the deprivation of education and employment and a social deficit of representation in law-making bodies.