PM Modi agreed to caste census under pressure from Opposition, claims RJD

Patna: Senior RJD leader Manoj Jha on Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was initially opposed to caste census,

agreed to the exercise later under pressure from the Opposition.

The RJD national spokesperson said this while addressing a press conference of the INDIA bloc after a meeting of the leaders of Mahagathbandhan from all 243 Assembly constituencies ahead of the Assembly polls due later this year. “Our leaders (Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav) have been demanding caste census for many years. Of course, other Opposition leaders were also demanding the same. Initially, the PM opposed the caste census, but finally he agreed to the exercise under pressure from the Opposition parties,” Jha said.

The RJD will closely watch the entire exercise, he said adding that caste census is a first step and after that, there would be many others - reservation limit should be increased and there should be provision of reservation in the private sector.

In a veiled attack on Union minister Chirag Psawan, who supported caste census but opposed making the data public, Jha said, “We will not accept the suggestion from a big leader from Bihar that after the census the findings should not me made public.”

“Findings are not meant to be a decorative item to be kept in drawing rooms. These must be followed by steps like increase in reservation, provision for reservation in private sectors etc,” he said.

Paswan, who heads Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), recently told media persons that he favours it since specific data is needed for allocation of funds for community-based development schemes.

He, however, said the data should not be made public as it may create further division in society.