Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi posed three written questions in the Lok Sabha, asking for the details and tentative timelines of the key procedural steps to prepare for the decadal census. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, accused the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday (December 3, 2025) of “openly betraying Bahujans by its approach on the caste census.”
“In Parliament, I asked the government a question about the caste census — its response is shocking. No concrete framework, no time-bound plan, no discussion in Parliament and no dialogue with the public. There is not even any desire to learn from the strategies of successful caste surveys in other states,” Mr. Gandhi said in a post on X, referring to his written questions to the Home Ministry.
On Tuesday (December 2, 2025), he posed three written questions in the Lok Sabha, asking for the details and tentative timelines of the key procedural steps to prepare for the decadal census, including the preparation of questions and setting schedules.
Mr. Gandhi had also asked whether the government has any proposal to publish the draft census questions, seek inputs from the general public or people’s representatives and if best practices from previous exercises, including the caste surveys done by various states, will be factored in.
“The Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, namely Phase I: House Listing and Housing Census from April to September, 2026 over a period of 30 days, according to the convenience of the State/UT governments. This will be followed by Phase II: Population Enumeration (PE),” Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in his written reply.
Justice for Zubeen
In the Lok Sabha, Congress’ Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi also raised the issue of justice for late Zubeen Garg, Assam’s culutral icon.
“Zubeen Garg was a legendary musician. He passed away in Singapore in September when he was due to perform at a function organised by the Ministry of External Affairs, GoI, and the High Commission of India to Singapore,” Mr. Gogoi said.
Also read: One person killed Zubeen Garg, others cooperated: Assam CM
“We want to know how, during a programme organised by the Government of India, a murder was committed on foreign soil. Today, the people of Assam miss him. We want justice for him,” the Congress’ Deputy Leader said.
On September 19, Zubeen died in an accident while swimming during a yacht trip with a group of people in Singapore, a day before he was to perform at a live concert.
During Zero Hour, BJP MP, Nishikant Dubey demanded a citizenship survey in the border areas of West Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand. “All these Opposition parties have been winning elections by using these infiltrators as vote banks. A national register of citizens (NRCs) exercise should be conducted and illegal Bangladeshis should be pushed out,” Mr. Dubey said.
Published – December 03, 2025 10:16 pm IST
