'BJP is for caste census, working out modalities’: Party's OBC Morcha chief
PATNA: The Centre is working out the modalities of caste census and is committed to the uplift of the OBC, said national president of BJP OBC Morcha Dr K Laxman. Not revealing the details of the modalities involved, he reiterated that the BJP was not against the caste headcount.
Speaking to TNIE from Hyderabad, Laxman said what the BJP has achieved in the past seven years far surpasses the achievements of others in 70 years.
He slammed the Opposition parties for trying to eke out political mileage out of a sensitive issue and said: “The Congress or the RJD have no moral right to raise this issue. Their propaganda would be exposed in the upcoming Assembly polls in five states.”
He reiterated the Centre was not against caste census and said the commitment of the government to further the lot of the OBCs was demonstrated by “granting reservation to over 70,000 OBC students in educational institutions”.
“However, caste census cannot be conducted in a matter months in a vast country like India with population in the excess of 130 crore,” he said.
Targeting the Congress and the RJD, he said: “When they were in power, they did not even implement the recommendations of the Mandal commission. Now, they are projecting themselves as the champions of OBCs.”
Citing the example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who belongs to an OBC caste, Laxman questioned whether there was any other party that has promoted a person from the ranks to hold the top job.
“Most of these Opposition parties are of the families and for the families, not for the people,” he stated.
The statements assume significance in the wake of a Bihar delegation, led by Nitish Kumar, calling on the PM for caste census. Moreover, the JD(U) recently went back to Nitish-as-PM-line, straining relations with ally BJP.