Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday supported the stand of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for a caste census in Chhattisgarh if her party returns to power in the State.
While welcoming the stand, Mr. Yadav said that there should be a caste census at the national level as well. After the caste survey in Bihar, Ms. Vadra on Friday referring to the caste survey in Bihar announced that if a Congress government is formed once again in Chhattisgarh, then a caste census will be conducted in the State.
“Caste census is very important for the country and the demand for a caste census is rising in many States. Caste census should be conducted in the country. This work has been done for entire humanity. The government should have the correct scientific data so that it can plan its welfare schemes accordingly. Those who are speaking against [a caste survey] should speak to the Prime Minister and get a caste census conducted in the country. I welcome what Priyanka ji has said,” Mr. Yadav said in Patna.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader also slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J.P. Nadda for his statement that regional parties would be finished. Hitting back at BJP, Mr. Yadav said the saffron party itself would be wiped out in the days to come.
“All the regional parties are leaving BJP [alliance]. The party’s biggest ally in south India, AIADMK, has snapped ties in Tamil Nadu. Who is with BJP? Neither the people of the country, nor the regional parties,” Mr. Yadav asserted.
On Thursday, Mr. Nadda was in Patna to take part in the birth centenary celebrations of party patron Kailashpati Mishra. While addressing the party workers, the BJP chief had said that in the days to come regional parties would be finished.
Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi said that those who are talking about conducting a nationwide caste survey should first disclose why such a count has not been conducted yet in the States ruled by the Congress, Trinamool Congress, and JMM.
Also read: Equality and identity: On the findings of the Bihar caste count
Mr. Modi said that the Congress, which has promised to conduct a caste survey in poll-bound Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, should explain why this work was not done in the last four years of its party rule in the respective States.
He also asked why the report of a caste survey in Karnataka, which was conducted by Congress’s Siddaramaiah government at a cost of ₹200 crore back in 2015, has not been released yet.
“[RJD chief] Lalu Prasad [Yadav] should talk to [Congress leader] Rahul Gandhi to release the report of Karnataka’s caste survey. Congress government is in Himachal Pradesh for one year. Why was there no announcement of conducting a caste survey there? Does Congress remember the caste survey only when an election approaches? The work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the backward classes in just nine years was not done by the Congress which ruled the Centre and the States for 50 years,” Mr. Modi said.
On the other hand, poll strategist and Jan Suraj convener Prashant Kishor took a jibe at Mr. Gandhi’s statement on the Bihar caste survey data.
“His sudden realisation of the caste figures shows he has zero knowledge about the ground reality of Bihar. I was surprised when Rahul Gandhi came to know about these figures for the first time. This is the reason why Congress is struggling in Bihar,” Mr. Kishor said.
