Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said the BJP government was not conducting a caste census in the country along with the usual population count as doing so would bring an end to the “squabble” between Hindus and Muslims.
Mr. Yadav said that like the previous Congress governments, the present ruling party had also decided against conducting a caste census (of OBC population).
“We wanted caste census but Congress didn't allow it. It won't happen, we are not being counted again. And the reason is because they know the day caste census takes place in this country, the squabble between Hindus and Muslims will end,” he said.
The SP chief has been regularly making the pitch for a caste census.
Addressing an event at the party headquarters here in Lucknow, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said not only would the caste census prevent conflict between Hindus and Muslims, it would also heal the relationship between the Yadavs and the non-Yadav Other Backward Classes communities.
“If castes are counted, nobody will be upset with the Yadav brothers too,” Mr. Yadav said.
Yadavs are the largest OBC community in U.P. and over the past few years the BJP has gained traction among the rest of the OBCs, constituting over 40% of the State population, by using the anti-Yadav plank, accentuated by the concentration of power in the Mulayam Singh Yadav clan and a rainbow coalition built on Hindutva nationalism.
‘Divide and rule’
Mr. Yadav accused the BJP of following the colonial British tactic of ‘divide and rule’ by making people fight on the basis of castes and religion. He also reiterated his stand against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens, saying they not only discriminated against Muslims but also the poor.
