Congress launches national push for caste census, positions Telangana model as blueprint for social justice

Time of India

26-05-2025

Hyderabad: In a strategic political move aimed at reshaping the national discourse on social justice and representation, the Congress on Monday brought together its top OBC leaders from across the country for a high-level meeting in Delhi.
At the heart of the deliberations was a plan to launch a nationwide campaign highlighting
Rahul Gandhi
's push for a caste census, with Telangana's successful caste survey presented as a replicable model of inclusive governance.
The Congress leadership intends to drive home the message that it was Rahul Gandhi who first made caste census a political priority—long before the Modi govt followed suit. The Socio-Economic, Education, Employment, Political, and Caste (SEEEPC) survey in Telangana, conducted after the Congress came to power in the state, is being positioned as proof of the party's commitment to 'jitni aabadi, utni bhagedari'—a slogan now central to the party's national agenda for BCs, Dalits, minorities, and other marginalised communities.
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he leaders underscored that the Telangana caste survey was a direct result of Rahul Gandhi's promise that wherever the Congress comes to power, a caste census would be implemented. The Congress leaders also plan to highlight how consistent pressure from Rahul Gandhi and the party forced the Modi govt to make a belated announcement about conducting a caste census alongside the delayed decadal population census.
To amplify the issue nationally, the meeting decided to organise a massive public rally on the caste census, to be addressed by Rahul Gandhi. While most leaders favoured holding the rally in Delhi for maximum national impact, a section proposed Telangana as the ideal venue, given its successful implementation of the survey. A final decision on the location is pending.
Among the prominent leaders from Telangana who participated were BC welfare minister Ponnam Prabhakar, Telangana Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, Dalit rights activist Kancha Ilaiah, and party veteran V Hanumanth Rao.
The Telangana delegation gave a powerpoint presentation on the survey's planning and execution, detailing pre-survey consultations with stakeholders and legal experts, the model and methodology adopted, and the training of over one lakh govt staff, including teachers, to collect household data through a printed questionnaire.
Ponnam told TOI that the meeting also agreed to raise public awareness about the Telangana state assembly's passage of two bills enhancing BC reservations to 42% in education, employment, and local body elections.
These bills were sent to the Centre for approval, but the Modi govt has not acted on them, he claimed.
Mahesh Goud emphasised that the SEEEPC survey had provided granular data on the socio-economic and political status of every community in Telangana. "This proves that the Congress stands for real social justice. No govt can craft targeted welfare policies for the deprived without this kind of data. Telangana now has it—and we must take this model across India," he said.
Last Friday, Rahul Gandhi had directed party leaders to vigorously communicate the success of the Telangana caste survey in their respective states. He reiterated that the party's commitment to a nationwide caste census is not an electoral gimmick, but a moral and constitutional obligation to uplift SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities, and even the underprivileged among forward castes.
Monday's meeting drew a powerful cross-section of party leadership, including former chief ministers, PCC presidents, ex-PCC chiefs, and senior AICC office-bearers. The event was organised by the Telangana Congress with the approval of Rahul Gandhi, according to party sources.