Tejashwi Yadav said caste census is the old demand of RJD.
Patna, August 27: Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition in the Bihar Assembly said the caste census is an old demand of RJD. He further claimed that the idea was first proposed during the 1996-97 tenure of the Janata Dal government.
“At that time, Lalu Prasad Yadav was the national president of Janata Dal, and the coalition government headed by Janata Dal had decided to conduct the caste census in 2001. However, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government came in 1999 and it had overturned the decision. Nitish Kumar was the part of Vajpayee government’s cabinet,” Yadav said.
Tejashwi Yadav emphasized the continuous efforts made by Lalu Prasad Yadav and other socialist leaders in advocating for a caste census. He recounted that in 2010, Lalu Prasad Yadav, along with other socialist leaders strongly urged then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to conduct a caste census in 2011.
“In 2010, Lalu Prasad Yadav and other socialist leaders have strongly put their views on the caste census before the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to conduct the same in 2011. Following his approval, the parliament functioned smoothly,” Yadav claimed.
Tejashwi Yadav criticized the Narendra Modi government, which has been in power since 2014, for failing to conduct a nationwide census, over the past decade.
“The NDA government came into power in 2014 and after 10 years it has not conducted a census of the country. On the other hand, we were in power for 17 months in Bihar and conducted the caste-based survey successfully and also provided reservation based on the report,” Yadav said.
He also warned the BJP that if the central government does not conduct a caste census in the country, deprived, neglected, oppressed and ridiculed classes would not allow BJP members to enter their areas.
“I want to tell the Prime Minister that we will force him to conduct the caste census in the country,” Yadav added.
The first caste census was conducted in the country in 1931, and after many decades, the Grand Alliance government of Bihar carried out a caste-based survey in 2023.
EOM.