Rahul Gandhi’s demand for a caste census and igniting the ‘84% question’ after a similar exercise in Bihar may portray an advocacy for the Backward Castes, but in reality is a ploy to break the ‘Hindu’ vote of the BJP.

The Congress leader’s demand originates from Hindi heartland allies like the RJD, JD(U), and also the Samajwadi Party, which have been demanding a caste census in a bid to break the Hindu voter consolidation and bring back the ‘Mandal politics’ era by wooing castes back into their fold.

The BJP’s politics has been the opposite of that, combining all castes under one umbrella of welfare-ism through various schemes, and the ‘Kamandal’ of Hindutva, as well as sheer nationalism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said “some people” want to divide the country in the name of caste.

Rahul Gandhi first raised the issue of caste census in his rally at Kolar during Karnataka elections earlier this year. Last week, he said caste census was the biggest issue before the country and the Congress would embark on the same as the first step if it comes to power.

The BJP, however, questions this as a ‘retrograde step’ when people are more worried about development in an aspirational country. It also terms Gandhi’s demand as hypocritical as the Congress had been against such a study for nearly 60 years till mulling one 2011, which also did not see the light of the day.

Sample this: Between 1951 and 2011, Congress prime ministers like Jawaharlal Nehru were against a caste census, while PMs like Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had put the Mandal Commission report on the back-burner. A caste census was last done in India by the British.

In 2011, too, it was Congress allies like RJD who pushed the UPA to conduct a caste census, overturning the Congress stated policy position of decades of not doing one. In 2011, too, senior Congress leaders like P Chidambaram, Anand Sharma, and Pawan Kumar Bansal objected to a caste census and a group of ministers (GoM) never reached a conclusion over it.

It took five years to complete the survey at a cost of over Rs 4,000 crore but it was riddled with technical flaws and never became public.

In Karnataka, till 2018, Siddaramaiah did not release a caste census report, despite commissioning one in 2015. He is yet to make it public in his current term. The Modi government instead has rolled out social welfare benefits for all, and by some estimates, the Backward groups, including OBCs, have benefitted the most from them.

Government sources make it a point to say that the so-called 50% unreserved pie in the country right now is also not a preserve of the upper castes but the Backward communities can also compete for the same besides the near 50% reserved pie for OBCs, SCs and STs.

A report by the Rohini Commission for sub-categorization of OBCs, meanwhile, is pending a decision of the government after it was submitted to the President earlier this year. If the government brings a bill on it in the Winter Session of Parliament, it could well be the government’s answer to the caste census bogey of the Opposition.