As Bihar released the caste survey data today, the Congress quickly hailed the decision and demanded a national caste-based census. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pitched for greater rights for those having a greater population share. Amid all this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress over the caste survey. Addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, PM Modi accused Congress of dividing people on the lines of caste.
“The people of the country had given those opposing development 60 years. 60 years is not a less time. If in nine years all this development & progress can happen in the country, a lot could have happened in 60 years. Even if they had a chance & it is their failure that they could not do it. Even then they used to play with the feelings of the poor & they are doing it even now. Even then they used to divide the country on the basis of caste & even now they are doing the same…,” said PM Modi.
PM Modi further said that those who don’t have a new thinking or a new roadmap for development can never help Madhya Pradesh progress. “These people have only one work & that is to hate the country’s progress & the various schemes. They forget about the country’s achievements with all the hatred that they have,” he said.
On the other hand, the Congress party said that if the NDA government refuses to carry out the caste census, then the Congress will do it after coming to power in 2024. “The Caste Survey figures in Bihar will help the leadership address socio-economic inequality in the state. A similar Census at the national level will help the govt give due participation to OBCs, Dalits, tribals and women. Rahul Gandhi has always raised his voice, demanding a Caste Census. Under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh ji, the UPA government conducted a Caste-based Census. But the Modi government is not disclosing the figures. The Congress government in Karnataka has also conducted a Caste-based Census, and we have always supported it. If the Modi government fails to conduct a Caste Census, we will undertake the exercise as soon as the Congress government is formed in 2024,” said the party.
The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar released its much-awaited caste survey which revealed that OBCs and EBCs constitute a whopping 63 per cent of the state’s total population. According to the data released here by Development Commissioner Vivek Singh, the state’s total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which the Extremely Backward Classes (36 per cent) were the largest social segment followed by the Other Backward Classes at 27.13 per cent.
