{
  "id": 3290463,
  "title": "Congress Leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi Ask PM Modi To Scrap Caste Census Questionnaire, Seek Wider Consultations",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/congress-leader-mallikarjun-kharge-rahul-gandhi-ask-pm-modi-to-scrap",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-25T14:55:55.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/congress-leader-mallikarjun-kharge-rahul-gandhi-ask-pm-modi-to-scrap-caste-census-questionnaire-seek-wider-consultations"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "New Delhi, August 25, 2026 - Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to abandon the current caste census questionnaire and instead create a new one following extensive consultations. The two leaders argue that the existing open-ended format could lead to misleading data. In a joint letter written in Hindi on August 20, Kharge and Gandhi criticized the government's decision to use an open-ended question format for recording caste details in the census, stating it is misleading. They proposed consultations with political parties, experts, and the public before finalizing a fresh questionnaire. The Congress leaders emphasized that accurate caste data is crucial for implementing social justice policies and assessing the socio-economic status of different castes. They highlighted the issue of regional variations in the naming and categorization of castes, which could result in fragmented data if an open-ended system is used. Kharge and Gandhi suggested using a drop-down list of castes, similar to the methods employed for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the census. They also noted that the proposed alternative could provide a more accurate picture of India's social composition and enable better policymaking.",
  "summary": "New Delhi, August 25, 2026: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi have written a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking the Centre to scrap the existing questionnaire for the caste census and prepare a new one after wider consultations. Kharge, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and Gandhi, his counterpart in the Lok Sabha,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "NDTV",
        "title": "Misleading Method For Caste Census: Rahul Gandhi, M Kharge Write To PM Modi",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/misleading-method-for-caste-census-rahul-gandhi-m-kharge-write-to-pm",
        "published": "2026-08-25T14:07:28.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Press Journal",
        "title": "Caste Census Row: Kharge, Rahul Gandhi Write To PM Modi, Demand Scrapping Of 'Misleading' Questionnaire",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/caste-census-row-kharge-rahul-gandhi-write-to-pm-modi-demand",
        "published": "2026-08-25T14:32:19.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}