Watch: How Modi, other BJP leaders opposed demand for caste census – before announcing plans for one

Though many Opposition parties have long appealed for caste to be included among the categories counted in the census, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has stridently opposed this demand. The Hindutva party claims that the Opposition is using the issue to divide Hindus.

Yet, in a surprising announcement on Wednesday, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs said that caste would be enumerated in the next census.

A caste census is expected to shed light on the number of members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes and could bolster the push for greater representation and power.

Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition bloc, led by the Congress, had alleged that the BJP wanted to win a sweeping majority to amend the Constitution and remove caste-based reservations. This is likely to have caused the BJP to lose ground in some constituencies and its majority in Parliament.

In the run-up to Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to demands for a caste census as “Maoist thinking”. In a television interview, Modi said that those demanding a caste census belong to the same school of thought as “urban naxals”.