New Delhi, 2 May

The Congress' highest decision-making body CWC will on Friday evening deliberate on the situation arising out of the Pahalgam terror attack and the caste census announced by the Centre.

Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh told reporters on Thursday that the entire Congress Working Committee (CWC) would sit and discuss the two crucial issues before the country.

Sources said the CWC is likely to pass resolutions seeking concrete action against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack and for allocating funds to get the caste census conducted soon as part of the national census exercise.

It is also likely to demand that there should be a constitutional amendment and the 50 per cent cap on reservations be removed. The CWC is also expected to urge the government to implement Article 15(5), which pertains to reservations in private educational institutions.

The CWC meeting would be held at the party's 24, Akbar Road headquarters here at 4pm.

The meeting comes just two days after the Centre announced that caste enumeration will be part of the next population census, with the inclusion of caste details for the first time since independence.

The CWC also met on 24 April in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that the perpetrators of the 22 April attack, in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed, must be held accountable and the prime minister should act firmly.

He also welcomed the government's "sudden" decision to include caste enumeration in the next census exercise after "11 years of opposing it", but asserted that the Centre should fix a timeline for its implementation.

Crediting a sustained campaign run by the Congress for the government announcing the caste census, he had said his immediate suspicion was that this could go the women's bill way in terms of implementation and demanded a specific date for it.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha had said that the pressure the Congress put on the government for the caste census has worked.