Day after PM Modi lauds caste census decision, Cong takes swipe at him with two videos
New Delhi, May 26 (PTI): A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the decision to conduct a caste census, the Congress on Monday took a swipe and posted videos of him from the past two years criticising the opposition's party's demand for such an enumeration.
Prime Minister Modi asserted on Sunday that caste census is a step towards bringing those left behind into the mainstream of development, as he emphasised that his government does not believe in caste politics but in the empowerment of the marginalised.
He made the remarks at a conclave of NDA chief ministers and deputy chief ministers. Two resolutions -- one hailing the valour of the armed forces and PM Modi's brave leadership in the context of the recent military action and another praising the decision of caste enumeration in the next census- were passed at the conclave.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared two video clips of the prime minister in which he is heard criticising the opposition's pitch for a caste census.
"On April 30, 2025, in the period between the Pahalgam terror attacks and the launch of Operation Sindoor, the Modi government unexpectedly and suddenly announced a caste census. Yesterday, the PM expectedly took full credit for it in the NDA CMs meeting," Ramesh said.
"But just listen to what the PM had said - First on October 2, 2023, when the findings of the Bihar caste survey were released. Second on April 28, 2024, when asked about the INC's demands for a caste census," Ramesh said and tagged the two clips.
In the first clip, Modi is heard saying, "They (the opposition) used to divide the society on the basis of caste and continue to commit that sin even now". In the second, the PM, when asked about the Congress demand for a caste census, says it is part of the "urban naxal mindset".
In another post, Ramesh took a swipe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with an old video of him talking about the opposition's caste census demand.
"The PM called caste census an urban naxal idea. What does the man who desperately wants to succeed him when Modi@75 happens think about the caste census? Just listen to Mr Ajay Singh Bisht. And recall his earlier rants against reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and OBCs," Ramesh said.
In the video shared by Ramesh, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister is heard hitting out at the opposition, alleging that it is making an attempt to divide people on caste lines.
While there was no immediate reaction from the BJP, party chief JP Nadda had said after Sunday's NDA meeting that a caste census was always part of the ruling alliance's imagination, noting the Bihar government headed by JD(U) leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was the first to do it.
The resolution has made it clear that the NDA does not believe in caste politics but acknowledges the need for a caste census to bring into the mainstream of development the deprived, exploited, Dalits and others left behind, he said, adding that it was the need of the society.
The Centre last month announced that caste enumeration will be part of the next population census, with the inclusion of caste details for the first time since independence.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, had been demanding a nationwide caste census, making it a major election issue. Some states like Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka have conducted such surveys.
पहलगाम आतंकी हमले और ऑपरेशन सिंदूर के लॉन्च के बीच के समय में ही, 30 अप्रैल 2025 को, मोदी सरकार ने अचानक और अप्रत्याशित रूप से जाति जनगणना की घोषणा कर दी। कल एनडीए शासित राज्यों के मुख्यमंत्रियों की बैठक में प्रधानमंत्री ने उम्मीद के मुताबिक इसका पूरा श्रेय खुद ले लिया।
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 26, 2025
लेकिन… pic.twitter.com/hJbFhvCp4b
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
