PATNA: A day after Union home minister Amit Shah said the BJP was never opposed to the idea of a caste census, the governing Grand Alliance in Bihar questioned the "authenticity" of his claim saying the former was saying all these since the caste census has now become a national issue in the aftermath of the Bihar government conducting a caste-based headcount.
The state government released the report of the caste survey last month which triggered a flurry of political activities with demand for caste census coming from various states.
"Amit Shah has been compelled to make such statements only under pressure since the demand for conducting caste census at the national level has gained momentum of late. But the million-dollar question now is that how should the people believe his claim that the BJP was never opposed to caste census when his government has not conducted even the general census on time?" state JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar asked on Saturday.
The Census enumeration which was scheduled to take place in 2021 has been delayed for various reasons. Kumar alleged the top BJP leadership has gone restless after Bihar’s move to successfully conduct caste survey became a national issue.
Questioning Shah’s claim over caste census, the RJD suggested the Narendra Modi government to instantly announce the conducting caste census along with the general census at the national level if it is serious about granting rights to the poor, backwards and the deprived class.
"But the way sweets were distributed in the BJP office after the Patna high court temporarily halted the caste survey in May, the party stands exposed," RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmad said , seeking for conducting caste survey at the national level without doing any politics over the issue.
"Ab aaya oont pahad ke niche (Now, someone has come to senses)," commented state Congress spokesperson Rajesh Rathore, reacting to Shah’s observation over the caste census. He alleged the BJP and Shah went all out to halt the process of caste survey in the state by filing an affidavit in the court despite the Bihar government conducting the survey at its expense.
"Now that several Congress-ruled states such as Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh have announced to conduct caste surveys, the BJP has come under tremendous pressure and is talking about it. But who will believe them?" Rathore asked.
The Grand Alliance partners went after the BJP shortly after the home minister told reporters in Chhattisgarh on Friday that the party would take "the appropriate" decision on a caste census after "consulting everyone". Shah made these observations after releasing BJP’s manifesto for ten assembly elections.
