Jagadanand Singh said RJD will struggle for caste census till the end.

Jagadanand Singh said RJD will struggle for caste census till the end.

Patna, August 31: Jagadanand Singh, the state president of RJD reiterated that the struggle of his party for the nationwide caste census and inclusion of a 65% reservation limit in the Ninth Scheduled of the Constitution will continue until the demand would not be met.

In support of these two issues, RJD will hold a day-long Dharna on September 1 in Bihar.

“There are two main objectives of the Dharna scheduled tomorrow. Conducting the caste-based census in the country and 65% reservation—achieved during the 17-month tenure of Tejashwi Yadav as a deputy chief minister of Bihar during the Grand Alliance government—into the ninth schedule of the Indian Constitution. This inclusion would protect the increased reservation limit from judicial review,” Singh said.

Jagadanand Singh has reviewed the preparations with senior party members and divisional in-charge general secretaries. Singh also provided guidelines to make the protest a historic success.

“RJD National President Lalu Prasad Yadav has been advocating for a caste census since the implementation of the Mandal Commission’s recommendations in 1990. During the UPA government, a caste census was conducted following demands from Lalu Prasad Yadav and other socialist leaders. However, before the final report was released, the BJP government came to power and decided not to publish the caste census data, effectively freezing it,” Singh said.

Jagadanand Singh also pointed out that, Tejashwi Yadav who was the deputy chief minister of Bihar along with an all-party delegation, including CM Nitish Kumar met with the Prime Minister to demand a nationwide caste census. Despite their efforts, the Narendra Modi government did not agree.

“During Tejashwi Yadav’s 17-month tenure in government, a caste survey was conducted in Bihar. Based on the findings, the reservation scope for Dalits, backward classes and extremely backward classes in Bihar was expanded to 65% with an additional 10% reservation provided for economically weaker sections from the general category,” Jagadanand Singh said.

“However, this expanded reservation system was challenged in court, allegedly at the behest of the BJP. The court has stayed the implementation of this reservation due to the state government’s alleged failure to present the case effectively,” he said.

“If this reservation policy is included in the Ninth Scheduled of the Indian Constitution, it would be protected from the judiciary review, preventing the courts from overturning it. Without such protection, future appointments could see ST/ST, backward caste, Extremely Backward Caste and economically weaker sections from the general category deprived of reservation benefits. Therefore, RJD members will stage a sit-in protest at all district headquarters on September 1,” Singh said.

He further said the protest will continue under the direction of Lalu Prasad Yadav and the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav until the demands are met. The fight will remain from the streets to the assembly.

Chitranjan Gagan, the spokesperson of RJD stated that Tejashwi Yadav and Jagadanand Singh would participate in the dharna at the party’s head office in Patna while other leaders would join it at their respective district headquarters.

Also Read: State-wide Dharna of RJD will be scheduled on September 1.

“During the protest, a memorandum addressed to the President of India would be submitted to the District Magistrates of all districts,” Gagan said.

EOM.