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Opinion on Indian politics, sport, cinema, tech and cars — from writers who say what they think and back it with facts.

The Caste Census Was Supposed to Corner Modi; Now the Opposition Must Explain Its Own Arithmetic

Indian Politics · 25 Oct 2026 · 7 min read

The Caste Census Was Supposed to Corner Modi; Now the Opposition Must Explain Its Own Arithmetic

By folding caste enumeration into the national Census, the government accepted a demand the INDIA alliance had tried to monopolise. I think that was politically shrewd and substantively defensible—but the data must not become an excuse for a permanent quota auction.

By Meenakshi Iyer

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Technology

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Offbeat

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The writers

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Aditya RaoIndian Politics

Meenakshi IyerIndian Politics

Rohan DeshmukhIndian Sports

Farah SheikhIndian Sports

Kabir MalhotraEntertainment

Ishita BanerjeeEntertainment

Nikhil BhattTechnology

Priya NairTechnology

Arjun ChawlaAutomobiles

Ritika MenonAutomobiles

Devansh KapoorOffbeat

Ananya GhoshOffbeat