New Delhi: The caste census released by the Bihar government is receiving bouquets and brickbats as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hailed it while Union Minister Giriraj Singh said that it is an eye wash. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, "The greater the population, the greater the rights – this is our pledge." The caste census of Bihar has revealed that OBC + SC + ST are 84% there. "Out of 90 secretaries of the Central government, only 3 are OBC, who handle only 5% of India's budget! Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics of India," posted Rahul Gandhi on his X (Formerly Twitter) handle.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Giriraj Singh says, "Caste Census will do nothing more than spreading 'bhram' among the poor and public of the state. They should have given a report card that Nitish Kumar ruled the state for 18 years and Lalu Yadav ruled the state for 15 years, but did not develop the state. Report card of Caste Census is just an eye wash..."
The opposition alliance INDIA on Monday played its trump card as the Bihar government released data showing there were 63 per cent backward classes in the state. Right from his Bharat Jodo Yatra days, Rahul has been demanding a fresh caste census and had recently promised that if the INDIA alliance comes to power in 2024, it will conduct the exercise.
Fresh caste census is Rahul Gandhi’s strategy for the 2024 national elections to shift the focus of national politics to a social welfare agenda to counter the BJP's religion-based politics. As per the Bihar government’s caste census of 13 crore population, backward classes are 27 per cent and extreme backward classes are 36 per cent taking the total to 63 per cent. The SCs are 19 per cent, STs one per cent while the general category is 15 per cent.
Congress strategists congratulated former party chief Rahul and INDIA allies JD-U leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD leader and deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav for the move and said that the demand for fresh caste census will now be raised in more states.
Also read: Bihar caste survey released: EBCs 36 percent of population, OBCs 27
“Rahul has been pressing for a fresh caste census since he embarked on the Bharat Jodo Yatra last year. We also passed a resolution for the same in our Plenary Session at Raipur in February. We are committed to conducting a nationwide caste census if the INDIA alliance comes to power in 2024. The idea is supported by most of the alliance parties like SP, DMK and JMM. On our part, we will continue to raise it in public,” AICC OBC department chairman Ajay Yadav told ETV Bharat.
The Congress leader said the move will benefit the other social groups, including the economically backward classes and upper castes and will expose the BJP. “Our move will expose the BJP. The saffron party practices divisive politics and keeps talking about the OBCs, but has never done anything for them. They will find it difficult to counter this demand. The backward classes form the bulk of the population in the states and need to be supported with suitable policies. Moreover, a fresh caste census will benefit the other social groups as well. The upper caste poor will also benefit and so will the SCs and STs,” he said.
The Congress leader further stated that even parties, which were not allies have not opposed the caste census, and said that more states will now demand such a study. “Even those outside our alliance like BSP and BRS are not opposed to caste census. I think the demand for a fresh caste census will be made in more states now. I am sure State governments in the INDIA alliance will pursue it. The Congress governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have already announced that if the party is voted to power in the forthcoming assembly polls they will conduct a fresh caste census,” said Yadav.
“I congratulate Rahul, Nitish and Tesjaswi. This is historic work. Bihar will show the way to the country. I hope the State government’s welfare policies will now be oriented based on the ground realities to ensure social justice,” AICC secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh Chandan Yadav told ETV Bharat.
