Patna: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the caste census. Nitish will be meeting the PM on August 23. Nitish took to Twitter to thank PM for giving him time to meet.
While briefing the media outside Raj Bhavan after meeting Governor Phagu Chauhan, Nitish said, "Last night, I got the final confirmation from the PM that he will be meeting the delegation on August 23 at 11 am. I had already sent him a letter stating that leaders from different political parties from Bihar are keen to hold a meeting with the PM on the caste census. I have also submitted the list of the members in the delegation."
For quite some time, the caste census issue has become a volatile one in Bihar after the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai had declared that no caste census other than SC, ST will be conducted.
Since then, Nitish has issued statements several times, in support of conducting a caste-based census in Bihar so that actual numbers of downtrodden people could get appropriate benefits from government schemes. Despite being a close ally to BJP, Nitish had questioned the saffron party that why the BJP supported the caste-based census earlier and taking a U-turn now.
In the last Monsoon session, the leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had met Nitish along with a delegation of other parties and suggested the CM to seek the intervention of the Prime Minister into the matter. Acknowledging the suggestion made by Tejashwi, the chief minister wrote a letter to the PM on August 3 seeking time to meet him on the same issue. On August 13, PMO replied with a letter to the CM office.
Tejashwi will also be part of the delegation meeting with PM along with Nitish Kumar.
Read: Tejashwi writes to PM on caste census, targets Nitish
Raising the possibility of the BJP leaders being a part of the meeting Nitish said, "BJP leaders will also be there in the delegation but the name has not been decided yet. As soon as we get the name, it will be sent. Tejashwi ji will also be part of the delegation because it was him who had first made the proposal of meeting the PM on the issue. The entire opposition leaders had met me with this demand. Tejashwi has been informed and other leaders who will be meeting the PM have also been informed."
Nitish had earlier reiterated that the caste census proposal was passed in both houses of Bihar in 2019 and 2020 so it was necessary to conduct the same in the state. However, after the Centre refused to do so, the politics in Bihar got heated up a bit.
Both JDU and BJP had locked horns over the caste census after the Centre categorically denied it. Nitish had urged the Centre to reconsider its decision and finally, the matter has reached this stage.
In fact, seeing the delay from the PM's side, Tejashwi had taken a jibe at Nitish calling it an insult of a Chief minister and even went on to write a two-page letter to PM demanding caste census.
Soon after the confirmation of the meeting from PMO, Tejashwi too reacted and said that he has got the information that PM has given the time to meet on Monday. However, political pundits opined that people should not expect too much from the meeting as it would finally turn out to be a courtesy call.
“The outcome of the proposed meeting with the PM would be nothing more than a courtesy call. The BJP has already announced its agenda that other than SC/ST no caste census would be conducted. As a CM has sought time, PM has obliged by giving time for the meeting. The Bihar government will ultimately conduct their own caste census on the lines of Karnataka, “said Dr Sanjay Kumar, a Patna based political expert.
He further said, “In fact, Nitish Ji will inform the same to the PM that state government will conduct its own caste census, if Centre is unwilling. The Prime Minister would have no problem with that. Nitish Ji will send a message to the people of Bihar that he tried his level best on the issue but nothing came about. So, finally the state government will do it from its own resources. This is called political game because from day one, Nitish ji knew that the Centre will not give its nod for caste census after declaring its intentions in Parliament. This is how matured politicians like to keep the people busy before they finally wrap it up. ”
Read: Nitish Kumar denies rift within JDU, says all are united
