The Congress party on Friday lashed out at the Modi government, accusing it of following a \u201cpredictable pattern\u201d of first opposing progressive policies, defaming them, and ultimately adopting them under public pressure \u2014 a charge made in response to the Centre\u2019s announcement to include caste enumeration in the next population census.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh, in a sharp post on X (formerly Twitter), described the decision as a \u201cmilestone in the fight for social justice\u201d<\/strong>, crediting the \u201cunwavering fight\u201d of Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party, and numerous social activists for forcing the government\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Modi government, which tried to suppress the caste census for years, has finally succumbed to the relentless struggle of Rahul Gandhi, Congress, and social organizations,\u201d Ramesh declared.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n He alleged that the BJP-led government excels only at \u201cdiverting attention, running from real issues, and advancing a divisive agenda,\u201d while lacking \u201cpolicy or intention\u2014only lies, propaganda, and hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udd0d \u2018Master of U-turns\u2019<\/strong> He recalled Prime Minister Modi\u2019s earlier criticism of schemes like MGNREGA<\/strong>, calling it a \u201cmonument of failure\u201d in Parliament, only to later increase its budget during the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday, the same MGNREGA became the backbone of India\u2019s poor. And the government tried to take credit for it,\u201d Ramesh noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, he pointed to Aadhaar<\/strong>, GST<\/strong>, and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)<\/strong>\u2014initiatives pioneered by the Congress but initially dismissed by BJP as flawed or ineffective, before being embraced and expanded by the same government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis list doesn\u2019t end here. The BJP has neither vision nor direction. Only politics of deceit,\u201d Ramesh asserted.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n He also targeted the government\u2019s cash assistance schemes for women<\/strong>, saying BJP once dismissed such promises as \u201cmere politics of announcements,\u201d but now runs similar programs under different names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f A Headline Without a Deadline?<\/strong> \u201cWhere\u2019s the deadline for the caste census?\u201d Ramesh asked, questioning the Centre\u2019s intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The government on Friday formally announced that caste enumeration will be part of India\u2019s next decadal population census<\/strong>, marking the first such inclusion since Independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u27a1\ufe0f Congress, however, maintained skepticism, warning that without a clear timeline and genuine political will, the announcement risks becoming yet another unfulfilled promise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Congress party on Friday lashed out at the Modi government, accusing it of following a \u201cpredictable pattern\u201d of first opposing progressive policies, defaming them, and ultimately adopting them under public pressure \u2014 a charge made in response to the Centre\u2019s announcement to include caste enumeration in the next population census. Congress General Secretary (Communications) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3119","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n
Ramesh said the caste census is just the latest example of the BJP\u2019s pattern of opposing, ridiculing, and eventually adopting policies originally championed by Congress<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, Congress had accused PM Modi of being a \u201cmaster of giving a headline without a deadline\u201d<\/strong>, alleging the announcement was a \u201cdiversionary tactic\u201d<\/strong> amid calls for strong action following the Pahalgam terror attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n