The census is an important administrative exercise as it brings the necessary legibility of populations for reasons of governability. However, beyond policy imperatives, it also has significant political implications for electoral democracies around the world. For example, in India, enumeration has provided the mediation for political mobilisation of communities along religious and caste lines. While rallying around religion had a debilitating effect on the democratic health of the country, caste mobilisation by Dalit-Bahujans has been instrumental in the democratisation of Indian society.