"Govt has been pressured": Priyanka Gandhi on Centre's decision to include caste enumeration in upcoming census

Speaking to media persons, Priyanka Gandhi in Wayanad said that his brother Rahul raised this issue in Parliament and was ridiculed for it.

"The government has been pressured. My brother took up this cause last year. He has been saying it again and again; the entire BJP was against it. BJP ministers, the Prime Minister himself. When my brother spoke in Parliament, he was also ridiculed by them for speaking in favour of this," Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said.

"I feel that now they have come under pressure because everybody, the whole country, realises that this is a necessity. It is needed now, and I'm glad they have come under pressure. I am happy that they have announced something. I hope that whatever they do, they do it in a proper fashion, in the proper way, so that the correct facts come out," she added.

Priyanka Gandhi is on a visit to her constituency, Wayanad, where she visited the Wayanad Wildlife Division office and handed over an ambulance for the people.

Earlier today, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh sharply criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what he described as a 'sudden and desperate U-turn' on caste census in India.

Through a social media post, the Congress leader highlighted how the Modi government had previously opposed the idea of a caste-based census.

He referred to three instances that he says clearly show the government's change in stance. In April 2024, Prime Minister Modi, during a television interview, had labelled those demanding a caste census as "urban naxals".

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated at a media briefing following the cabinet meeting that the decision demonstrates the present government's commitment to the holistic interests and values of the nation and society.

The Congress party, meanwhile, passed a resolution demanding the immediate implementation of clause 5 of Article 15 of the Indian Constitution to enable reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCS), Dalits, and Adivasis in private educational institutions. The resolution also said that updated caste data must be used to strengthen reservation policies.

Clause 5 of Article 15, which discusses reservations in educational institutions, allows the state to make special provisions "for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions, including private educational institutions." (ANI)