Caste Politics

The Congress on Saturday asserted that a nationwide caste survey and the lifting of the Supreme Court's "arbitrary ceiling" of 50 per cent on reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes are central to its vision for the country. Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X that the party's government in Telangana will begin its caste survey on Saturday. He said 80,000 enumerators will be going door to door over the next few weeks, covering over 1.17 crore households across 33 districts. This is the first time a caste-based survey is being conducted by the government in Telangana since 1931, Ramesh said. "It is a historic, revolutionary moment -- one that is a realisation of the Telangana Movement's aspirations for the state and a fulfillment of one of the key ideals of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution," the Congress general secretary said. It is also, as Rahul Gandhi noted in Hyderabad earlier this

Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls, the ruling Mahayuti appears to have maintained a balance in the representation of various communities and tried to avoid any potential rebellion while nominating seven members for the MLC posts, as per political analysts. Of the seven new members of the legislative council who took oath on Tuesday, the BJP has nominated three, while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's NCP have two members each. On Monday, the state cabinet cleared seven out of 12 names and received approval from Governor C P Radhakrishnan. With his approval, the swearing-in ceremony was held at the Vidhan Bhavan on Tuesday, hours before the announcement of the Maharashtra assembly elections. The newly sworn in MLCs are BJP's Chitra Wagh, Vikrant Patil and spiritual leader of Banjara community Dharmaguru Babusingh Maharaj Rathod, NCP leaders Pankaj Bhujbal and Idris Naikwadi and Shiv Sena's Manisha Kayande and Hemant Patil. Rathod is a seer

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday said that the Socio-Economic and Education Survey report, also known as the "caste census", will either be referred to a Cabinet subcommittee or introduced in the legislature, based on what the Cabinet decides next week. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the caste census will "most likely" be placed before the Cabinet for discussion on October 18. "We were accused of keeping the caste census in the cold storage after spending so much money. Now when we are saying that we will make it public, they are not able to take it," Parameshwara, a senior leader from the SC community, said, hitting back at the opposition over its criticism. Speaking to reporters here, he said everyone in the state knows that backward classes, minorities and Dalits are more in number, and in the days ahead for the government to plan and prepare programmes, the caste census will be helpful. "... shouldn't we prepare and give programmes for those ...

The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside discriminatory provisions of prison manuals of some states while deprecating the practice of caste-based discrimination, distribution of work and segregation of prisoners in separate wards as per their castes. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud also issued a slew of directions to stop caste-based discrimination in jails. Caste cannot be a ground to discriminate against prisoners of marginalised classes in jails as per the state manuals, the bench said, adding such practices cannot be allowed. The prisoners shall not be permitted to undertake cleaning of sewers tanks in hazardous conditions, it said while ordering that the police will have to work in right earnest to deal with the cases of caste-based discriminations. The bench said prisoners of certain classes will have the right to get fair distribution of work in jails. Setting aside the objectionable rules, the top court ordered states to amend them within a period of three .

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

In the second of a three-part series, Business Standard looks at sizeable variations in education levels and employment within SC sub-categories in Tamil Nadu

Key trends surface in Haryana as Assembly election nominations near

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Officials are now debating whether to add a third caste category, called "other backward class" to the questionnaire or whether to conduct a separate caste survey

Opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday pressed for a caste census, imposition of super rich tax, and removal of GST levy on life and medical insurance premiums. Participating in a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation No. 3 Bill, 2024 in the Upper House, Raghav Chadha of the Aam Aadmi Party expressed happiness at the indexation benefit being "partially restored". However, he said, this poses a "huge question mark" over the central government's tax policies. "... How confused is our country's taxation policy. On 23 July 2024, you say that you are taking away the indexation benefit from investors and exactly after two weeks, you say that you are not taking it away but restoring it. This shows that when you, without thinking, not acting on the advice of an economist, if you devise the Budget on the advice of those who do not have economic knowledge, these kind of flip flops will be witnessed," he said. Taking away indexation from an Indian investor is equivalent to

The BJP may not have taken a categorical stand at the national level on the Supreme Court's landmark decision allowing states to create sub-categorisation within the SCs and STs, but several of its leaders are of the view that the verdict can help the party boost its outreach to the more disadvantaged sections of Dalits. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has assiduously cultivated the numerically-weaker Scheduled Castes (SCs) in many states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, over the years, and the apex court's verdict may allow the party to promise these communities with their most coveted wish -- their fair share in government jobs and schemes, they said. The erosion of Dalit votes that hit the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha polls has sent its brain trust to the drawing board, as the party looks to reinvigorate its outreach to the community after the opposition's allegation that the Narendra Modi government wanted to change the Constitution found some traction in the ...

The Patna High Court had struck down the Bihar Assembly's decision of increasing reservations for Backward Classes from 50 per cent to 65 per cent in government jobs and educational admissions

Union minister Ramdas Athawale has said his Republican Party of India (A) supports conducting a caste census in the country and believes some way should be found for it. Speaking to reporters in Madhya Pradesh's Indore city on Sunday, Athawale also said there should be no malpractice in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and the Education Ministry was taking all possible steps to stop malpractices in the exam in future. He said since Article 17 of the Constitution has a provision to abolish casteism, there has been a hindrance before governments on how to get a caste-based census conducted. "My party demands that some way should be found because once the caste-based census is done, we will know the percentage of every caste in the population," the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment said. Athawale further said if future decisions include extending reservation benefits to every caste based on their population share, his party would not oppose it, ...

A video purportedly containing remarks against a particular community in the backdrop of tension between two caste groups in a village in Beed district has gone viral, prompting leaders of various political parties to appeal for peace. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) and Ajit Pawar (NCP) have appealed for maintaining peace and avoiding such commentary. Beed Superintendent of Police, Nand Kumar Thakur, on Monday, rushed to Mundewadi village in Kej tehsil and held a meeting with villagers. The video clip went viral on Sunday against the backdrop of tensions between members of the Maratha and Vanjari communities. Some villagers in the video clip, which went viral on Sunday, can be heard saying that no 'Maharaj' (religious preacher) from the Maratha community should be invited to the village. Villagers also asked others not to consume liquor from a shop, while a man threatened that those violating this diktat would be penalised. "A meeting was conducted in

Ages-old bias could also be affecting what traditionally deprived communities earn

Political parties may claim that the caste arithmetic does not play a role in candidate selection but analysts say it is still a major factor in Gujarat, even though urbanisation has weakened caste identities in some parts of the state. In rural areas, however, caste is still a dominant factor, they said. Patidars constitute 11-12 per cent of Gujarat's 6.5-crore population and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), scattered across many sub-communities including Thakors in north and Kolis in central Gujarat and Saurashtra, constitute around 40 per cent. The BJP has fielded six Patidars, seven OBCs and three Kolis. The Congress and the AAP, part of the opposition INDIA alliance, have fielded six Patidars, seven OBCs and two Kolis. Vidyut Joshi, sociologist and former vice-chancellor of Bhavnagar University, told PTI that Gujarat's first four chief ministers were either Brahmin or Vanik. Patidars entered the political scene after the 70s when Chimanbhai Patel became the chief minister in 19

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying those who call themselves 'deshbhakt' are scared of the 'X-ray' of caste census but "no force" can stop it. Addressing the 'Samajik Nyay Sammelan' here, Gandhi said he is not interested in caste but in 'nyay' (justice) and asserted that it is his life's mission to ensure justice for the 90 percent of the population against whom injustice has been done. "As soon as our government is formed, the first thing that would be done is a caste census," Gandhi said. He said the Congress manifesto talks about the X-ray and the income inequality created by Modi. Modi has transferred Rs 16 lakh crore to select business people and the Congress is going to return a small amount to the 90 per cent of the population, he said. "We have calculated...what we felt is justice and that help should be given, we put it down in the manifesto," he said of the party's guarantees mentioned in the ...

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Sunday said the OBC, Dalit and tribal constitute 73 per cent of the population but not even one of the top 200 companies in India is owned by them. Addressing a gathering during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra here, he said a caste census is an X-ray of the country which would "reveal everything". "Caste census is your (youth's) weapon and you have to find out what is your population," he told the gathering as he came of the Swaraj Bhawan, at Lakshmi Talkies intersection near Allahabad University. "Secondly, you have to find out what is your share in the country's wealth." "How much wealth do the 73 per cent castes have in this country? Caste census is the X-ray of the country. This will reveal everything," he said. Gandhi called a student from the crowd to his vehicle and asked him, "Which class do you belong to?" The student replied that he was from the OBC category. On this, Gandhi said, "The OBC class in the country is 50 per cent, Dalits are 15 per cent

Bihar CM, who returned to NDA fold, feared significant losses in Lok Sabha polls had he stayed with INDIA bloc