Nitish Kumar lauds caste census decision as 'historic step', Tejashwi claims victory | How Congress, BJP, others reacted

Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday announced that caste enumeration will be a part of the next National Census.

An ANI report quoted Vaishnaw as saying, “Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided today that caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census.” The minister, however, did not announce a date for beginning the census.

Nadda hails decision, lashes out at Congress

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda hailed the Centre's move, calling it a “historic decision" to include a caste-based census in the census. “This decision is extremely important from the point of view of bringing the economically, socially and educationally backward castes into the mainstream and restoring the dignity to the people who have been deprived of their rights for a long time,” Nadda wrote on X.

He, however, lashed out at the Congress for “fulfilling its political interests” and alleging that the latter had always opposed the caste census. “For a long time, the Congress has fulfilled its political interests by increasing animosity between castes and making them a means of vote bank. While in power, the Congress always opposed caste census, the proof of which is that after independence, caste census has not been done in the country till date," he said.

“This unprecedented decision of the Modi government will be a milestone in expanding social harmony as well as in uplifting every section and increasing the respect of the backward sections. I express my gratitude to Modi ji for this historic decision for the welfare of the entire society,” Nadda added in his post on X.

Bihar leaders welcome decision

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also hailed the decision by saying, “The decision of the Central Government to conduct caste census is welcome. Conducting caste census will reveal the number of people of different classes, which will help in making plans for their upliftment and development,” he said in a post on X.

Former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav welcomed the decision by writing a long post on X. He wrote, “Our ideological victory, our fight for social justice is now at the next stage. Whatever we do today, others think about it after 35-40 years. Now we will reserve seats for backward/most backward classes in Vidhan Sabha, Vidhan Parishad, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Many recommendations of Mandal Commission are yet to be implemented.”

He concluded his post with “Long live social justice!”

While talking to ANI, Yadav said, “It was our 30-year-old demand. It's a victory for us - the Socialists and Lalu Yadav. Earlier, all the parties from Bihar met the PM, but he denied our demand. Many of the ministers denied this, but this is the strength of ours that they have to work on our agenda.”

Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan said it is an important decision in national interest, saying that his party had long called for it. The decision will be a big step in the country's equitable development, the Union minister said, adding that caste census will help "make more just and focused policies".

Paswan said that "misleading claims" were made about relations between him and the central government over the issue, and that the decision is a clear answer to such rumours.

Amit Shah calls it a ‘historic’ decision, UP CM Yogi Adityanath says ‘heartfelt gratitude’

Union Home Minister Amit Shah called it a historic decision, saying that the Modi government was committed to social justice. “In the CCPA meeting held today under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji, a message of strong commitment towards social equality and rights of every section has been given by deciding to include caste census in the upcoming census,” he said in a post on X.

“The Congress and its allies opposed the caste census for decades while in power and played politics over it while in the opposition. This decision will empower all economically and socially backward classes, promote inclusion and pave new paths for the progress of the deprived,” he added.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called the decision unprecedented and a “decisive initiative”. The CM also took to X and wrote, “The decision of the CCPA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include a caste census in the upcoming census in the overall interest of 140 crore countrymen is unprecedented and welcome.”

“This is a decisive initiative towards giving the deprived, backwards and neglected classes their proper recognition and fair participation in government schemes,” he said, while adding, “Heartfelt gratitude to the respected Prime Minister, under whose leadership the BJP government has taken this historic decision to transform social justice and data-based good governance into reality.”

‘Will help decide on quota demands’

NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule on Wednesday welcomed the Centre's decision to conduct a caste-census, and said the move will help the government take a decision on the demands of reservation of various caste groups.

In a post on X, Sule said, “Finally, today, the central government has decided to conduct a caste-wise census. This decision will shed new light on the exact number of various castes in the country and their status.”

"We welcome this decision and sincerely thank the central government. It is hoped that this process will be started at the earliest and completed within the stipulated time," the Lok Sabha member from Baramati said.

Cong, CPI take credit, claim victory

Congress MP Pramod Tiwari called it a victory for Congress party workers and demanded immediate action by the government. “It's a victory of Congress party workers. On April 9, in the Ahmedabad session of Congress, we passed this resolution. It has become a people's movement, and after being surrounded and under the people's pressure, the government has decided to do this. We want immediate action in this regard,” ANI quoted him as saying.

CPI MP D Raja claimed that the CPI had consistently demanded a caste census, and was one of the first parties in Bihar to support it at the national level. He told ANI, "The Communist Party of India has consistently demanded a caste census. Our party is one of the first parties in Bihar to support the caste census at the national level. Now, due to the consistent campaign conducted by opposition parties demanding a caste census, the government has finally agreed to have a caste census. The government should not think of playing politics on this issue. It must show its sincerity and political will to undertake the work of caste census."

(With inputs from agencies)