New Delhi: Minister in Bihar government and senior BJP leader Janak Ram has said that though an all-party delegation from his state met Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday and and demanded a caste census, he is personally of the view that even without such a census, all the weaker section castes are developing in the country.
Stating that those who are demanding a caste census were in the government in Bihar for a long time and was also part of the central government, Janak Ram questioned as to why such a census was not done at that time.
Bihar minister and BJP leader Janak Ram, who was a part of an all-party delegation from the state that met Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a caste census, now says weaker sections of the society are developing even without such a census. “PM (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is the messiah of the oppressed and the poor,” he said. “All sections of people are getting the benefits of central government schemes. The Modi government is also rapidly developing the people of the weaker sections. In the BJP, from the state level to the national level, there is participation of leaders from the weaker section castes.”
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Janak Ram said that those who are demanding a caste census have always used Dalits, backward sections of the society and the poor as vote banks. He said that the OBC Bill – the Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill, 2021 – has been passed by Parliament and the Centre has given the power to the states to make their own OBC lists.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav and leaders of other parties of the state met Modi Monday demanding that a caste census be conducted in the country. Though Janak ram was also a part of the delegation, the BJP is not in favour of a caste census.
Other parties, however, say that a caste census will reveal exact numbers of weaker sections of the society. The benefits of government schemes will reach these people and help them develop.
Now, Janak Ram's statement may increase the differences between the BJP and the JDU, the two largest partners of the coalition government in Bihar.
