India, May 1 -- By making a caste census the central pitch of its election campaign, the Congress has made this among the most important questions of the 2024 general elections. Is this a wise strategy in terms of potential rewards for the Congress? The answer depends on the relationship between caste and economic inequalities in present-day India and the possible political manifestation or lack of it in the elections.

The lack of comprehensive and recent data is a big constraint in answering this question objectively. India does not have any official statistics on income data. Survey-based asset data from the National Sample Survey Office's (NSSO) All India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS) is from before the pandemic and only gives us...