LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday announced that he would get a caste census done within six months of SP government being formed if voted to power in 2022 polls.
"Today with the available technology, it will not even take six months. It can be done within three months or even less," he said at the conference, which was held at Samajwadi party headquarters in Lucknow.
Addressing the workers of Mahan Dal – an ally of SP claiming to enjoy the support of OBCs like Shakyas, Mauryas and Kushwahas particularly in western Uttar Pradesh – Akhilesh accused the ruling BJP of having tried to divide the backward classes by pitting the Yadavs against the rest.
"They (ruling BJP) are not interested in conducting a caste census." he said.
Akhilesh claimed that there was a time when they pitched us against each other saying that Yadavs were depriving the other backwards of opportunities.
"Earlier the Congress spent thousands of crores of rupees and got the caste census done but the
statistics were never released," Akhilesh added.