In a dramatic reversal of policy, the Modi government has agreed to conduct a caste census ~ an idea it once vehemently opposed. This shift, coming ahead of key assembly elections in Bihar and after the Pahalgam terror attack, appears less like a moral reckoning and more like a calculated political manoeuvre. The move is set to reshape the electoral chessboard, particularly in regions where caste remains a central axis of power and identity.

The sudden shift also reveals how electoral pragmatism often trumps ideological consistency. What was once dismissed as divisive is now being recast as necessary, with little explanation for the change. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which heads the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had long resisted calls for a caste-based census. The official argument rested on the potential for social division. Unofficially, it was a hedge against disrupting the BJP’s........

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