Bihar: Tejashwi Yadav says CM Nitish must push demand for caste-based Census with PM Modi

The leader of the opposition said that the CM should lead a committee and meet PM Narendra Modi over the issue.

Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav has urged the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar to push its demand with the Centre for conducting a caste census in the state. Speaking in the Assembly yesterday, Yadav hit out at the BJP questioning whether the saffron party considers 70 per cent of the population as Hindu.

“The central government has refused to conduct a caste census. We have sent the proposal of caste census from Bihar Assembly twice unanimously to the central government. But the central government does not want to conduct a caste census. Does BJP not consider this 70% population as Hindu?” said Yadav.

The leader of the opposition said that the CM should lead a committee and meet PM Narendra Modi over the issue. “What will be the dignity of this house if its proposal is not accepted? We want to suggest that be it under the leadership of Chief Minister (Nitish Kumar), a committee of this assembly should go to the Prime Minister and urge him to conduct the caste census,” said Yadav.

हमने दो बार सर्वसम्मिति से बिहार विधानसभा से जातिगत जनगणना का प्रस्ताव पारित कर केंद्र सरकार को भेजा है लेकिन केंद्र सरकार जातीय गणना नहीं कराना चाहती?केंद्र सरकार देश के 70%पिछड़ों/अतिपिछड़ों को उनके अधिकारों से वंचित क्यों रखना चाहती है?क्या BJP इस 70%आबादी को हिंदू नहीं समझती? pic.twitter.com/Bw9CTIZheQ

— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) July 28, 2021

Notably, the Central government has time and again refused to carry out a caste-based census despite a request by several states including Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra.

On the other hand, CM Nitish Kumar, who is an ally of the BJP, has also backed the demand for a caste-based census. “We believe that there should be a caste-based census. The Bihar Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution to this effect on 18.02.19 and again on 27.02.20 and it was sent to the Central Government. The central government should reconsider this issue,” he had said in a tweet dated July 24.

हम लोगों का मानना है कि जाति आधारित जनगणना होनी चाहिए। बिहार विधान मंडल ने दिनांक-18.02.19 एवं पुनः बिहार विधान सभा ने दिनांक-27.02.20 को सर्वसम्मति से इस आशय का प्रस्ताव पारित किया था तथा इसेे केन्द्र सरकार को भेजा गया था। केन्द्र सरकार को इस मुद्दे पर पुनर्विचार करना चाहिए।

— Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) July 24, 2021

On July 20, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed the Lok Sabha through a written reply that as a matter of policy, the Central government has no plan to enumerate caste-wise data in Census-2021 other than the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Earlier in March this year, the MHA had said in the Rajya Sabha that only the castes and tribes which are specifically notified as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as per the Constitution are enumerated in Census.