PM Modi a ‘U-turn ustad’, wants to sabotage caste census: Congress

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 18, 2026: The Congress on Tuesday accused the Modi government of attempting to sabotage the caste census and questioned why the 2027 Census does not provide a drop-down menu for selecting castes, despite the Centre having recommended such a system in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court in September 2021.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said the government had taken a "complete U-turn" on caste enumeration by announcing a caste census on April 30, 2025, after previously opposing the demand.

Ramesh referred to the Centre’s September 21, 2021 affidavit, in which the government had rejected a plea seeking a caste census. However, he pointed to a section of the affidavit that said a registry of castes with a drop-down menu for selecting castes would have helped generate consistent and reliable data.

He questioned why a similar drop-down menu has not been incorporated into the 2027 Census, noting that such systems had been prepared before caste surveys in Bihar and Telangana.

Ramesh also said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had raised the issue in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 5, 2025.

"The conclusion is clear: the Modi Government wants to simply sabotage the caste census," Ramesh alleged, accusing the prime minister of making another "U-turn" after announcing the caste census.

Calling Modi a "U-turn ustad", Ramesh alleged that the government had effectively abandoned the idea of a caste census without explicitly saying so.