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.
How OBC Discontent Is Forcing the BJP to Rethink the Caste Census
Electoral compulsions have forced the BJP to conduct the caste census
Historical Context and Implications for OBC Representation
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.
In the context of the political vacuum and the denial of representation and accommodation for OBCs, they found that the BJP is the viable alternative to the Congress and the Left parties. The BJP has accommodated OBCs in the leadership of the party and power positions. For example, leaders like Narendra Modi in Gujarat and Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh were appointed as chief ministers and were assigned key positions in the party just before and after the Mandal agitation. Subsequently, Modi claimed that he is from the OBC community to get the massive support of OBC voters, and alleged that Muslims were taking away OBC reservations from non-Muslims. Therefore, the largest chunk of the OBC population has been rallying with the BJP in the context of the gradual weakening of parties such as the Janata Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which were at the forefront of the social justice movement.
Given the political vacuum and denial of representation and accommodation for OBCs, THEY have found that the BJP is the viable alternative to the Congress and the Left parties.
However, the NDA바카라™s decision to carry out the caste census needs to be explained in the context of its policy stand on reservations and electoral mobilisation of OBCs retrospectively. In 1990, the National Front government headed by V. P. Singh initiated the implementation of 27 per cent reservations for the OBCs. L. K. Advani of the BJP launched the Rath Yatra to divert attention of the people from the Mandal agitation. Later, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee rejected the suggestion given by the Commissioner of the Census of India to include caste as an indicator in Census 2001. However, during Vajpayee바카라™s tenure, a few hundred castes were included in the OBC list without increasing the percentage of reservations.
On July 20, 2021, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah told Parliament that the Government of India, as a matter of policy, had decided not to collect caste-wise data, other than for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), in the census. The Union government also submitted to the Supreme Court that the caste census of backward classes is administratively difficult and cumbersome: it has suffered and will suffer on account of both completeness and accuracy of data. During the Lok Sabha election campaign in 2024, the BJP바카라”being the biggest beneficiary of the OBC vote bank in 2014 and 2019바카라”was critical of the caste census and advocated the theory of 바카라˜Dividing Indian Society바카라™. Therefore, the BJP was critical of the growing demand from the backward classes and the Congress바카라™ stand about the caste census. It was expected that the BJP would implement the 27 per cent quota for OBCs. However, data obtained from the government of India through the Right to Information Act reveals that only 17 per cent of the quota has been filled for more than three decades, whereas within a short span, the 10 per cent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota is being implemented effectively, after introducing the 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act to insert the economic criteria in Articles 15 and 16. Therefore, the main beneficiaries during the NDA rule are the upper and dominant castes, who got the lion바카라™s share in all the appointed and nominated positions.
Economic Exclusion and the Political Recalibration
In the case of OBCs, over the past few years, they have experienced declining economic status, growing unemployment, rural distress and large-scale migration. Moreover, welfare initiatives such as the Vishwakarma Scheme and the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) could not reach the deserving artisanal communities. The KVIC has been providing subsidy any artisanal and handicraft initiatives once bank loans are committed. However, banks are ready to provide as much funds as a beneficiary wants바카라”for purchasing a vehicle or constructing a house바카라”but not for startups of traditional and indigenous skills-oriented activities.
With the rise of the demand for caste enumeration, many parties, including NDA partners, have proactively decided to support and mobilise OBCs, except the the BJP. In an era of coalition politics, the Congress has realised that neglecting the OBCs has resulted in the rise of the BJP. Election surveys indicate that the proactive stand of the Congress fetched dividends for the party from the OBCs in the assembly elections of Karnataka and Telangana in 2023. Therefore, the Congress adopted the caste census as part of its guarantees in the Lok Sabha election of 2024.
A CSDS-Lokniti post-poll survey found that there was a 5-6 per cent shift in OBC votes from the BJP to the Congress in the 2024 election. The BJP바카라™s seat share dropped from 303 in 2019 to 240 in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. However, the OBC vote share of the Congress increased from 15 per cent in 2014 to 20 per cent in the 2024 election.
The policies of the BJP/NDA governments from 2014 to 2024 indicate that decisions are taken in favour of the upper and dominant castes when the party got the majority to form the government with the support of the lower castes like OBCs. In terms of policy decisions, the BJP realised the importance of OBCs when they tilted to the Congress. The BJP바카라™s style of power dynamics is for the upper and dominant castes and rich people바카라”whenever it has the majority바카라”and Mandal politics when it is losing the vote share of OBCs. Therefore, the decision to go for a caste census is not a surprise but rather an electoral compulsion.
(Views expressed are personal)
E. Venkatesu is with the Department Of Political Science, University Of Hyderabad
This article is part of Outlook바카라™s 1 June 2025 issue, 'Gated Neighbourhood', which examines the state of diplomacy, media, and democracy in the wake of the ceasefire. It appeared in print as 'Coming Around To Caste.'