Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to lead delegation to talk caste census with PM Modi today

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, than 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 after tying rakhis to trees in Patna to spread awareness on environmental conservation on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

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.

“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 caste-based 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 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.

He reiterated that “there is a countrywide sentiment in favour of a caste census being conducted at least once. There should be no misgivings as such an exercise will be beneficial for all social groups”.

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 raised the demand for holding a caste-based census. Many opposition parties such as the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party are also demanding that the exercise should be held.

Other parties such as the Biju Janata Dal have asked for a caste census, as have some BJP leaders, including Badaun MP Sanghamitra Maurya and national secretary Pankaja Munde.

Earlier in the day, Kumar tied rakhis to trees in Patna on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. The NDA-led Bihar 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 and save them to conserve the environment.

“We need to plant trees and save them to conserve the environment. The state government has been focusing on planting saplings under the Jal Jeewan Hariyali mission. The future generation is now aware of the environment conservation,” he said.