Resolutions at CWC meet: Congress questions caste census timing, seeks accountability on Pahalgam attack

The Opposition party maintained it “stands with the government in the time of this [Pahalgam] crisis” but said there has been “no indication so far” about what it is doing.

At a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Friday evening, leaders adopted a resolution each on the Pahalgam incident and the caste enumeration announcement.

On the caste census, the party said it must be a comprehensive exercise that records not just statistics but also socio-economic indicators. The party said the Telangana caste survey, which had 56 questions, is the model the Centre should emulate.

The Congress said the caste census must have a timeline and reiterated its demand for lifting the 50% quota cap. Sources said that party leaders discussed making sure that the BJP-led government “doesn’t steal the narrative” on the issue.

According to a leader present at the meeting, Rahul Gandhi told the CWC there was a need for the party “to stick to issues for longer than six months” and that sustained campaigns like the one on the caste census can force the government to accept the party’s demands.

On Pahalgam, the CWC resolution said it “is a time for demonstrating our collective will as a nation to teach Pakistan a lesson and curb terrorism decisively”. The party urged the government to make Pakistan pay “for its continued export of terror into our territory”.

While the Congress had spoken about “intelligence failures” and “security lapses” during an emergency CWC meeting on April 24, it took a clearer stand during Friday’s meeting for the need for action to “teach Pakistan a lesson”.

At a briefing following the meeting, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Singh Baghel said: “Those who have died, when will they get justice? Who is responsible? Does the Home Minister take responsibility or the Defence Minister? Why did the security apparatus fail?”

A source said that Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra raised an issue with the word “inquiry” in an earlier draft of the Pahalgam resolution. “Her point was that it should not be interpreted as the inquiry that Pakistan is demanding, and hence, the word was removed and replaced with accountability,” said the source.

“The CWC reaffirms its earlier demand for time-bound accountability into the serious lapses in security and intelligence in one of the most heavily guarded regions of the country. The people of India deserve transparency and accountability,” said the resolution.

Another source told The Indian Express that Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy made a presentation at the CWC on the caste survey in the state.

On the timing of the caste census announcement, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said: “…The whole country was mourning the Pahalgam incident… Then, suddenly this decision was taken at night.”