Congress Alleges ‘Nefarious Political Calculations’ Behind Census Push in Poll Bound States
Jairam Ramesh accuses Centre of poor planning and raises concerns over the design of the caste-related question in Census 2027.
NEW DELHI, Sept 5: The Congress on Saturday questioned the decision to advance the population enumeration exercise in four states ahead of their expected Assembly elections, alleging that the move reflected poor planning and possible political considerations.
The Registrar General of India (RGI) announced that population enumeration under Census 2027 will be conducted in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and non snow bound areas of Uttarakhand between December 1, 2026, and January 4, 2027. A revisional round will subsequently be held from January 5 to January 9.
The announcement came as these states are scheduled to go to the polls early next year.
According to a gazette notification issued by the RGI and Census Commissioner Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, residents in the concerned areas will also have the option of self-enumeration between November 16 and November 30, 2026.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh criticised the revised schedule, pointing out that the population enumeration was originally planned for February 2027 as part of the Census 2027 exercise, which itself was delayed from 2021.
“The population enumeration that was to take place in February 2027 as part of the Census 2027 exercise (that was due in 2021) has been advanced in UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa where elections are due early next year,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
He questioned why the Centre had changed the schedule despite being aware of the forthcoming elections.
“This shows shoddy planning since it was known that these elections were due. Why the sudden dawn of wisdom? Undoubtedly there are some nefarious political calculations afoot,” he alleged.
Ramesh also criticised the format of the caste-related question included in the enumeration exercise. He claimed that question number 10 had been poorly designed and could undermine the objective of conducting a caste census.
He said Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 20, seeking changes to the questionnaire.
According to Ramesh, the two opposition leaders had suggested adopting the questionnaire models used in Bihar and Telangana. He alleged that their recommendations for a mid-course correction had not been accepted.
The government notification said the reference date for the census in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and the non-snow-bound areas of Uttarakhand would be 00:00 hours on January 5, 2027.
The enumeration schedule will differ for certain snow-bound and non-synchronous regions.
For Ladakh, as well as snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date has been fixed at 00:00 hours on October 1, 2026.
A government statement issued in June 2025 had earlier specified March 1, 2027, as the reference date for the rest of the country, excluding Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The latest notification therefore establishes different timelines for the population enumeration exercise depending on the geographical and climatic conditions of the regions concerned.
