Caste Census: BJP holds Ace with Rohini Commission Report
PM Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (Image credit X.com)
BJP Leaders Claim ‘Social Justice 2.0’, Not Mandal 2.0 on Anvil After Caste Census Nod
By Amit Kumar
New Delhi, May 3, 2025 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s U-turn on caste census continues to buzz within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party functionaries are bracing up for a communication war with the Congress on caste census.
The key focus of the BJP spin on the caste census is that the move will be an “actual social justice” of the marginalized sections of the society. Scores of BJP functionaries have flooded the newspapers with requests to carry their articles on the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) chaired by Prime Minister to approve the caste census.
“The approval to the caste census is the first step. There will be more steps in near future which will reveal real reasons behind the approval to the caste census,” said a highly placed source in the BJP.
The BJP functionaries argued that the party has decided to “dismantle the OBC identity vote base politics”. “The Congress wants to play the OBC politics. The BJP will go a step ahead and strike at the very foundation of the caste-based identity politics,” said another source in the BJP.
The BJP sources asserted that sub-division of reservation within OBCs will be the next natural course of action. “Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has said on record a number of times that the socio-economic conditions of his caste within the scheduled caste remain same as what they had been decades ago. Similar belief is held among leaders of several caste groups in the OBCs also,” added the source.
He argued that the “time for the sub-categorisation of reservation has come”. “The Justice Rohini Commission Report is lying with President of India. The Supreme Court has also greenlit the sub-categorisation of reservations within the SCs and the STs,” added the source in the BJP.
The BJP leaders argued that “it’s wrong to claim that Modi has embraced the mandal 2.0. Modi will embark on Social Justice 2.0. This requires the much needed reforms in reservation benefits so that the weaker sections are empowered in the truest sense.”
The Centre had constituted the Justice Rohini Commission in 2017. After a few extensions, the Commission finally submitted report to President of India in 2023. The Ministry of Social Justice in a written reply in parliament has said that it doesn’t have the report.
“The Ministry can at a convenient time request for the report of the Justice Rohini Commission when the government is ready to implement the recommendations,” said the source in the BJP.
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