VARANASI, Nov. 24 -- Alleging that the Congress stopped the caste census in 1961 despite recommendations by the Kaka Kalelkar Commission, BJP OBC Morcha national president K Laxman on Sunday said that the Narendra Modi-led government has taken a decisive and bold decision to include caste-based data in the upcoming census.

This is a historic step for the OBC community and the biggest reform since independence, he added.

Laxman, a Rajya Sabha MP, addressed a press conference at the Circuit House here on Sunday and said that for the first time since India's independence, caste was being included in the nationwide census, set to take place in 2026.

"This was a decades-old demand of the OBC community. Prime Minister Modi has taken a histor...