‘Ustad Of U-Turns’: Congress Slams PM Modi Over Census Notification, Slams ‘Silence’ On Caste Count

The Congress on Monday criticised the Centre over the gazette notification for the 16th national census, terming it a “damp squib” for remaining silent on caste enumeration. The opposition party accused the Modi government of making a U-turn on the issue and demanded that the Telangana model be adopted to include caste-wise socio-economic data.

The notification, issued by the central government, states that India’s next census will be conducted 16 years after the last one in 2011. The reference date for most parts of the country will be 1 March 2027, while snowbound regions such as Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand will follow an earlier reference date of 1 October 2026.

“A Damp Squib”: Jairam Ramesh Slams Centre’s Gazette

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh, taking to X (formerly Twitter), expressed disappointment over the notification. “The much-touted gazette notification on the 16th census to be conducted in late 2026/early 2027 has just been issued and is a damp squib. It is quite a damp squib and merely repeats what had already been announced on April 30, 2025,” he said.

He asserted that it was only due to the Congress party’s sustained pressure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “surrendered” to the demand for a caste census. “He (Modi) had called Congress leaders as urban Naxals for making this demand. Both in Parliament and in the Supreme Court, the Modi Government had rejected the very idea of a caste census — which it announced 47 days back,” he noted.

Highlighting that Monday’s notification makes no mention of caste enumeration, Ramesh asked, “Is this yet another U-turn by the ustad of U-turns? Or will details be announced later?” He insisted that the 16th census must mirror the Telangana model by not just conducting a caste count but also releasing detailed socio-economic caste-wise data.

Adhir Ranjan Credits Rahul Gandhi for Pressure on Government

Echoing similar concerns, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the notification was a result of Rahul Gandhi’s “tireless efforts”. “It is the result of Rahul Gandhi’s tireless efforts that the Modi government had to bow down and say that they will do the census and will do the caste census,” he told news agency ANI.

Chowdhury accused the BJP of previously vilifying the Congress over its caste census demand. “Due to this, a lot of abuses, comments, criticisms have been heard against the Congress party that there are only 4 castes and there are no other castes, those who talk of other castes are talking about dividing India,” he said.

He added, “Now the same BJP which had made many allegations against us regarding our demand for caste census… gradually now they realised that this will not work and especially in view of the Bihar elections, they announced the caste census so that they can take all the credit for it.”

BJP Counters, Says Congress “Never Stood with the Poor”

Responding to the Congress’s criticism, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav defended the BJP’s record on social justice, pointing to the party’s implementation of reservations for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).

“It was the BJP government that granted reservation to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Congress has never stood with the poor, OBCs, or SC/ST communities,” he said.

Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s praise for Karnataka, Yadav said, “Congress MP & LoP Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, calls Karnataka an ideal state — but the timing and internal contradictions of their stance show that social justice is merely a showpiece for Congress, not a genuine commitment. Misleading the OBC community has been Congress’s policy; delivering justice to them has never been their intent.”

Census Responsibility Lies with Centre, Says Congress

Speaking to ANI, Jairam Ramesh also emphasised that the census is a constitutional responsibility of the Centre, as per the Seventh Schedule. If the Union government refuses to carry it out, he argued, states are left with no choice but to initiate caste surveys of their own — citing Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka as examples.

Referring to the government’s 2021 affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing the caste census and Modi’s 2024 remarks likening caste census supporters to “urban Naxals,” Ramesh reposted an earlier statement calling the PM’s shift in position a “sudden, complete, and desperate U-turn”.

In a May 4 post, Ramesh had posed three questions to the Prime Minister: whether he would acknowledge the policy change, explain the reasons behind it, and commit to a timeline for conducting the caste census.

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