PATNA: Bihar's main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has threatened not to allow any census in the state unless head count of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) was conducted in the state along with those from the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribes.
Raising the old demand of caste based census in the state, RJD's defacto supremo accused the BJP of having mindset of 'anti-social justice' and blamed Union MoS Home Nityanand Rai and the saffron party for ignoring the unanimous demand of the state's political parties.
He alleged that the BJP displayed an 'anti-social justice' mindset by getting Union Minister Nityanand Rai, incidentally an OBC from Bihar, to give a written statement in the parliament that the government will not take up a head count of social groups other than Dalits and Tribals in Bihar.
"The proposal was sent to the centre after passed by both Houses of the state legislature twice. But Rai in his written reply expressed the centre's inability to concede the demand of caste census in Bihar," he added.
Nityanand Rai, the BJP MP from Ujiyarpur Lok Sabha constituency, is being projected as one of the front runners of probable contenders for the chief minister's post in the case BJP was given an opportunity after Nitish's exit.
Moreover, Rai belongs to the same Yadav community, which RJD's chief ministerial candidate belonged to.
Taking a swipe at CM Nitish Kumar, the RJD leader said that Nitish had in February this year said that the process would be initiated after holding deliberations with senior leaders of all political parties. However, the matter was thrown to the cold storage, he added.
He said the CM had agreed to conduct the caste census from its own resources after formal denial by the union government. Both BJP and JDU strongly countered the RJD's allegation and said that he should know the nuances of the contentious issue.
BJP leader and agriculture minister Amrendra Pratap Singh said Tejashwi lacked proper information. "Nityanand Rai has nothing to do with the caste based census," the BJP minister said. "This is not a simple issue, which can be taken so lightly. It needs a good deal of exercise. There is no doubt when Nitish Kumar has made it clear that the caste census will be done in the state. He should have patience," JDU MLC Neeraj Kumar said.