New Delhi, May 5 -- The Union government's unexpected announcement of enumerating caste along with the upcoming decadal census may have caught the opposition unawares, but senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have said that the work to lay the ground for the challenging exercise began months in advance. The party had in the past seemed opposed to the idea of a caste census. Many of its leaders, including Union minister Nitin Gadkari, targeted opposition parties for making a demand that they viewed as having the potential to cleave the country, although Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the party has been dropping hints about a caste census for at least a year. It isn't clear when the party decided to back a caste census, but at ...