All-party delegation from Bihar to meet PM over caste census

New Delhi : Amid demand for a caste census from NDA constituents and Opposition alike, an all- party delegation led by the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to demand the caste-based census in the state.

The team will include Opposition Leader in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), who was also the chief ministerial candidate of the Grand Alliance in the previous assembly polls held last year. The RJD-led alliance, comprising Congress and Left parties, had faced a close defeat in the polls.

Around 10 leaders of other political parties will also accompany the Chief Minister during the meeting.

On Saturday, Nitish Kumar in a tweet said: “A delegation, comprising a representative each from 10 parties, is going to meet PM Narendra Modi on Monday over demand for a caste Census.”

Taking to UNI, General Secretary of JD(U) KC Tyagi said, “It’s a long pending demand for the party and we are going to meet the Prime Minister to tell the sentiments of the people of Bihar and the representatives of other political parties under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.”

“The Bihar legislature had unanimously passed a resolution and sent it to the central government for reconsideration on the issue,” he added.

Tyagi said: “As far as JD(U) is concerned, there should be a caste census. And there are many other states in the country, which have already started this process. Even many of them have passed the resolution on it.”

Naming the other political parties, which are supporting the issue, he said, all socialist parties, Congress, and Left parties are on the same page on the caste census.

He added that even BJP MLAs had backed the unanimous resolution passed by the Bihar assembly, asking for a caste census.

“There is a large section in the BJP also wanting that there should be a caste-based census in Bihar,” he said.

The Union government has not so far spoked in support of the demand of caste based census.

The demand for a census to count other backward classes was raised during the debate on a constitutional amendment Bill in Parliament to restore states’ power to have their own OBC lists.

BJP’s ally in Uttar Pradesh, Apna Dal leader and Union Minister Anupriya Patel is among the leaders who demanded a caste census, which is likely to come up as an issue in upcoming polls in the state.

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