The Congress on Friday said the government's caste census decision is in line with its pattern of first opposing every good scheme or policy, defaming it and then adopting the same policy in the face of public pressure and reality.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh claimed that the Modi government has neither any vision of its own nor any direction to solve the problems, and is only adept at diverting the attention of the public, running away from real issues as well as furthering its divisive agenda.

"Apart from this, they have neither any policy nor any intention - only the politics of lies, propaganda and hatred," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

"Caste census - which the Modi government tried to suppress for years - the same government has finally succumbed to the unwavering fight of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party and countless social workers and organizations. This is an important milestone in the fight for social justice," Ramesh said.

The Modi government, which till yesterday was shying away from even its name and was leaving no stone unturned to ridicule and procrastinate, has today agreed to conduct a caste census, bowing to the heavy pressure of the public and the struggle of the opposition, he said.

"In fact, this has been the pattern of the BJP government -'first oppose every good scheme or policy, defame it' - and when faced with public pressure and reality, adopt the same policy," Ramesh said.

"Remember what the Prime Minister said in Parliament about MGNREGA - 'Monument of failure' - The scheme which the world called a model of rural employment and poverty alleviation, the same MGNREGA was mocked, it was said that people are digging pits. But when a crisis like Coronavirus came, this MGNREGA became the backbone of the poor of the country. What happened then? The government also increased its budget and also tried to take credit for it," the Congress leader said.

Ramesh pointed out that the same happened with Aadhaar as when the BJP was in opposition, it used to say that "it is a threat to privacy and is just a political stunt" but as soon as it came to power, it made the same Aadhaar the foundation of the entire welfare system.

"The story of GST is also no different. When the Congress took the initiative to bring GST, the BJP strongly opposed it, stating that it is against the interests of the states. But as soon as it came to power, it implemented it without any major changes and then started praising itself by calling it a 'game changer'," Ramesh said.

He also said that the system of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) was created by Congress so that subsidy reaches directly to the account of the public.

"At that time BJP rejected it, saying- 'This will not work'. But as soon as it came to power, it implemented this DBT in the entire country and started beating the drum of 'Digital India'," Ramesh said.

Ramesh further said that the policy of giving cash assistance to women was started by the Congress.

"The BJP had said then- 'This is just the politics of announcements'. Today the same government is running different cash transfer schemes for women.

Talking about the internship/apprenticeship scheme, he said the Congress had promised an apprenticeship scheme under Yuva Nyay in its 'Nyayapatra' for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"During the elections, the BJP had also taken a dig at it. But later Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced it in the budget. Sadly, till date, that too has remained only an announcement," Ramesh said.

This list does not end here and actually, these are just a few examples, he added.

"The truth is that this government has neither any vision of its own nor any direction to solve the problems. This government is only adept at diverting the attention of the public, running away from the real issues and furthering its divisive agenda. Apart from this, they have neither any policy nor any intention - only the politics of lies, propaganda and hatred," he said.

The Congress on Thursday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the "master of giving a headline without a deadline" and called the government's caste census decision a "diversionary tactic" in the face of demands for taking strong action against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.

Ramesh had said many questions arise about the decision, especially on the intention of the government, and asked "where is the deadline" for conducting the census.

The Centre on Wednesday announced that caste enumeration will be part of the next population census, with the inclusion of caste details for the first time since Independence.

Opposition parties, including the Congress, had been demanding a nationwide caste census, making it a major election issue. Some states like Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka have conducted such surveys.

Announcing the decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said the census comes under the purview of the Centre, but some states have done caste enumeration in the name of surveys "non-transparently" which has created doubts in the society.

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