Bihar CM to pitch for caste census in meeting with PM
All eyes are on the proposed meeting between an all-party delegation from Bihar, led by chief minister Nitish Kumar, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the issue of caste-based census. “It is a crucial issue and we have been seeking this for long. It if works out, then nothing could be better than that. Moreover, it would be not just for Bihar, people in the whole country will benefit from this. It should be done at least once. We will put forward our views from this angle. We will keep our views before the PM on Monday,” Kumar said in Patna on Sunday. Earlier this month, a delegation of JD(U) led by party national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh met Union home minister Amit Shah to press for a caste-based census. Kumar’s party Janata Dal (United) is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar and is in favour of caste-based census. Kumar left for New Delhi on Sunday evening.
PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is set to lead an allparty delegation from the state to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to discuss the issue of caste-based census.
“It is a crucial issue and we have been seeking this for long. It if works out, then nothing could be better than that. Moreover, it would be not just for Bihar, people in the whole country will benefit from this. It should be done at least once. We will put forward our views from this angle. We will keep our views before the PM on Monday,” Kumar said on Sunday. He arrived in the Capital later in the day.
Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar and is in favour of caste-based census.
“Some people have reached Delhi already and some will go with me. Tomorrow we will meet at 11,” he said. Asked if the matter will be resolved on Monday, he said: “We will see”.
Kumar left for New Delhi on Sunday evening.
Earlier this month, a delegation of JD(U) led by party national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh met Union home minister Amit Shah to press for a castebased census. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) legislator and leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly Tejashwi Yadav has asked the Nitish government to conduct the exercise “on its own” if the Centre refuses to budge from its stand. On the last day of the monsoon session of the Bihar assembly on July 30, Yadav met the CM on this issue.
“It is the desire of the people that there must be a caste-based census. I hope there will be a positive discussion on this. If the caste census is not conducted by the Centre in the country, then it will be considered by the government in Bihar,” Kumar told reporters on Saturday.
The last caste-based census was conducted and released in 1931, while in 1941, the data was collected but not made public. In 2011, a socio-economic caste census was carried out but the data was again not made public on grounds of “discrepancies”.
Holding a caste-based census is a sensitive issue for the government in view of the assembly elections due in seven states next year. Many political parties have come together demanding a caste-based census. BJP allies such as the JD(U), Apna Dal and Republican Party of India-Athawale have demanded a castebased census. Many opposition parties, including the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, RJD and Samajwadi Party, are also demanding the same.
Other parties such as Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaikled Biju Janata Dal have also asked for a caste census.
Earlier in the day, Kumar tied rakhis to trees in Patna on Raksha Bandhan. The NDA government has been observing Raksha Bandhan as ‘Vriksh Raksha Diwas’ (Tree Protection Day) since 2012 to protect Bihar’s green cover. Kumar urged people to plant saplings to conserve the environment.