Flagged three concerns, says Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal on caste headcount

Bihar chief minister NItish Kumar told reporters after the all-party meeting on caste census that the BJP wasn’t opposed to the exercise but expressed the inability to conduct the count on a national scale due to certain issues

PATNA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bihar president Sanjay Jaiswal on Wednesday said that he raised three key concerns about the caste-based headcount that was discussed at an all-party meeting in Patna earlier in the evening.

Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal put out a Facebook post after the all-party meeting to clarify his party’s stand on the exercise (HT File Photo/Santosh Kumar)

Hours after chief minister Nitish Kumar announced that all political parties have unanimously agreed to the caste-based count, Jaiswal listed his three concerns in a Facebook post. “Through the survey, the names of Rohingya and Bangladeshis should not get added so that they can claim citizenship on that basis later on,” he said.

His second concern was regarding the “proclivity of forward Sheikh Muslims in Seemanchal to claim the benefits of backwards” by presenting themselves as Kulhariya and other backward groups.

“The survey will have to ensure that the list does not fudge the real status. There are thousands of such examples, which affect the backwards. The third concern is that as per government figures, there are 3,747 castes in India, while the Centre itself said in its affidavit about 4.30 lakh caste names emerged during the survey in 2011. This should not happen in Bihar and it will require utmost caution,” he added.

To be sure, Union minister Giriraj Singh also expressed apprehension that Rohingyas or Bangladeshi nationals may try to get included. “They should not be included in the survey to achieve legitimacy,” he added.