‘Fake 56-Inch Chest’: Congress Mocks Modi Govt Over Caste Census, Demands Telangana Model & 'Clear Timeline'

Congress demanded a clear timeline for the caste survey and removal of the 50% reservation ceiling for SCs, STs, and OBCs. The party criticized the government for its lack of transparency and financial allocation for the survey.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.

Source : PTI

Congress on Friday asked the centre to announce a clear timeline of every stage of the caste survey and reiterated the demand for removing the arbitrary ceiling of 50 per cent on reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs. According to news agency PTI, the opposition party made the assertion in a resolution passed by the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which was chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by former chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and general secretaries Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among others.

"After 11 years of continued opposition and stubborn refusal, the Modi government has finally conceded to the demand of the Congress to collect population data caste wise as part of the next census. For 11 years, the prime minister attacked the Congress leadership for raising this demand," the CWC said in the resolution as quoted by news agency PTI.

No details, however, have been provided of what the government intends to do, and no financial allocations have been made, it said.

The Grand Old Party asserted that the centre must adopt the Telangana model if it is honest in carrying out a caste survey and said that the issue was about a "fake 56-inch chest versus 56 questions of social justice".

"The #CWCbelieves that the model followed by #Telanganaprovides an effective and inclusive framework that the Government of #India must emulate. In Telangana, the design of the caste survey was developed through a consultative & transparent process, with the active involvement of civil society, social scientists, and community leaders. Rather than being a closed bureaucratic exercise, it was open to public inputs and scrutiny," Revanth Reddy posted on X.

“The Congress Working Committee meeting was held today at a crucial juncture in India’s history when the country faces several challenges. From national security to #SocialJusticechanging world order and economic inequalities, India is at a delicate crossroads of history.… pic.twitter.com/NcVZrmuzjH

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 2, 2025

The CWC resolution recalled that the Congress president had written to the prime minister on April 16, 2023, demanding an up-to-date and comprehensive caste survey.

Noting that Rahul Gandhi was the strongest and most consistent voice demanding a nationwide caste survey, the party said he had raised the urgent need to gather data on caste so that government policies could truly reflect the lived realities of the marginalised during the 2022 Nav Sankalp Shivir in Udaipur.

On Wednesday, Centre made a significant move by announcing that caste enumeration will be included in the upcoming census exercise in a “transparent” manner.