BJP a divided house on caste census

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which was part of an all-party delegation from Bihar which met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to press for a caste census in the country, seems to be a divided house on the issue

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which was part of an all-party delegation from Bihar which met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to press for a caste census in the country, seems to be a divided house on the issue.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, HAM President Jitan Ram Manjhi and other leaders at South Block in New Delhi on Monday. (PTI)

While several BJP leaders are against the caste census, a few others have supported it.

State’s minister Janak Ram, who was part of the delegation from the BJP side, was cautious. “The PM has to take a decision on the caste census demand. Whatever he decides should be acceptable to all parties,” Ram said after the meeting in New Delhi. “PM has proved that development and caste are two different things. I don’t think caste creates hindrances in development,” he told reporters.

Others like minister Ram Surat Rai backed caste census categorically. “Both caste census and a law on population control are necessary. The mandate lies with the Centre. It is good that chief minister Nitish Kumar and PM Modi met on the issue,” Rai said.

Cooperative minister Subhash Singh, however, is opposed to the idea. “This will lead to social tension,” he had said.

While deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad gave no reaction, Bihar BJP chief Dr Sanjay Jaiswal had recently said a caste census might have an adverse impact on social amity. When reached for comment on Monday, he said, “Whatever PM decides will be acceptable to us.”

Most BJP leaders had opposed caste census after the Union government ruled out demand for the same in Parliament. “However, they seem to have realized suddenly it would not like to be seen as the isolated party which is opposing caste census,” said Gyanendra Yadav, associate professor and head of sociology department, College of Commerce, Patna.

The most explicit support for a caste census has come from Rajya Sabha member and former deputy chief minister of state Sushil Kumar Modi. “BJP has never been against the caste census. That is why we have been part of the resolution passed in the Legislative Assembly and the Council on this issue. BJP is part of the delegation which met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the year 2011, BJP’s Gopinath Munde had presented the party’s side in Parliament in favour of the caste census,” he tweeted.

The BJP heavyweight in Bihar further said that on the instructions of the central government at that time, when the socio-economic survey was conducted by the ministries of rural development and urban development, crores of errors were found in it. “The number of castes reached into lakhs. The report was not made public due to huge discrepancies,” he said.

A senior BJP leader, wishing not to be named, conceded that the demand for caste census has indeed put his party in a dilemma. “BJP cannot wholeheartedly support OBC politics, unlike the JD-U and RJD, because it fears it would antagonise the upper castes. But it can also not been seen as anti-OBC because it has made inroads in the sizable OBC and Dalit vote bank in the state,” he said.

The last caste census was held in India in 1931.