JD(U) MP says party unhappy with Centre's take on caste census

While speaking to ETV Bharat, JD(U) MP Sunil Kumar Pintu said that his party is not happy with the Central government's submission to the Supreme Court that caste-census is not feasible.

New Delhi: The Central government's submission in the Apex court that caste-census was not feasible, has put its key ally JD(U) in a dilemma of sorts. For the first time, BJP has cleared its stand over the caste census through its affidavit.

"We are not happy with Centre's decision. We want caste census to be done as it would provide justice to the suppressed, oppressed and backward classes. We cannot compromise on this issue at any cost," said JD(U) MP Sunil Kumar Pintu.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Pintu added, "A resolution was passed twice unanimously over the caste census in Bihar Assembly and it was sent to the central government. At that time, BJP was also in favour of the decision. When Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led an all-party delegation comprising of all floor leaders in the Bihar Assembly to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek caste census, even the BJP ministers were part of the delegation. But now, Central government declaring caste census as not feasible has baffled us a bit,"

"We are waiting for the decision of the Supreme court. Later on, if the Centre doesn't change its stance, then Nitish Kumar will do it on his own on the lines Karnataka government," he added.

Read: Tejashwi Yadav bats for caste-census, dashes off letters to 33 opposition leaders

Notably, Nitish Kumar, a proponent of a caste census, has argued that enumerating the backward classes is critical for proper implementation of government programmes. However, he has remained silent on the government's affidavit so far.

The JD(U) has been leading the charge on this issue, but the opposition parties might quickly seize the initiative. Nitish led a cross-party delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 23 to seek caste census, which was passed by the party's national executive on July 31.