Caste census: Will the 50% reservation cap soon be history?

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After the Pahalgam terror attack, much of India was expecting a retaliatory attack against Pakistan. Instead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a surgical strike of a political kind. On Wednesday, the Union cabinet decided that caste would be counted as part of the upcoming census.

This is a major U-turn by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Modi. Just a year ago, Modi had denounced those lobbying for a caste census as “urban naxals”. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath, arguably the second-most popular BJP leader after Modi, set the line for opposition to the caste census with the slogan “batenge to katenge” – divided we will get slaughtered.

The graphic imagery refers to a long-held Hindutva belief that demands for caste equity will only end up fracturing Hindu society. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh backed Adityanath on his call for purported Hindu unity.

Soon Modi echoed Adityanath’s line with his own “ek hai to safe hai” – there...

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