Caste Census, May 1 -- The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 30 April approved the enumeration of castes in the upcoming Census-a surprising decision that the opposition has long been demanding amid the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) resistance. A pan-India census, due since 2021, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Modi government's push for caste enumeration has already stirred the political pot in the country, with the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi claiming credit ahead of the Bihar Assembly election.

What is Caste census, why does it matter, and how would this open a Pandora's box in the country's political dynamics? LiveMint explains in the short primer:

The Census is...