Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi sees awell-crafted political ‘khela’ (game) behind Bihar’s caste-based survey report released on October 2. He believes that except for a few castes, known for their association with power, others are feeling cheated.
In an interview with Rajesh Kumar Thakur, he explains his version of Bihar’s caste census report as well as the latest act on women’s reservation. Excerpts:
How do you see the recent caste-based survey report in Bihar?
Most castes in Bihar have no trust in the figures enumerated in the report. They feel cheated and see ‘khela’ (game) done in this. They also suspect a new “census scam”. Barring a few special castes that are directly or indirectly associated with power, the other castes have merely been managed in figures, ignoring their existing population. There is no doubt when the decision to conduct the caste survey was taken in the state assembly, the BJP supported it. But when it was hijacked for political gains, it brought in many flaws. We demand a review on the ground level.
It is believed that the JD(U)-led government played the OBC card against the BJP-led NDA ahead of 2024 parliamentary polls…
The OBCs and other marginalised sections of the country, including Bihar, trust in the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. The PM himself comes from the OBC community, and there is no bigger leader in the country than him. No one has done as much work for the welfare of OBCs in 75 years as Modi has done in nine years. The highest number of ministers, 27, is now in the Modi government, the OBC Commission has got a constitutional shape and many schemes have been launched for them. As many as 85 out of 303 BJP MPs are OBCs, 27% of BJP’s 1,358 MLAs are also from OBCs and 40% of our 163 legislative council members are from the community. Where do opposition parties, including Congress, stand vis-à-vis OBCs? The survey is done without a scientific study of caste configuration. We demand a review of the survey process.
Can you cite an instance that shows injustice being done to some castes in the report?
One can figure out many instances. The figures of some castes such as the Vaishya and Nishad have been shown by breaking them into 8-10 sub-castes, so that they don’t realise their political power. The population of the Vaishya community in Bihar is more than 9.5% but this was not recorded in the survey and figures of sub-castes were hidden to inflate the number of caste-religion people who are with present government.
Opposition parties accuse the BJP of being anti-caste survey. Is it right?
This is a lie being spread to mislead the people the way the RJD and other parties have been doing for decades through their casteist-politics. One must remember that when the decision was taken, all parties agreed on it (caste survey) and the decision was taken during the time of our party government. The BJP has always supported the decision of any state government to conduct such a survey on its own. A part of survey carried on 17 points has not been made public. Why hasn’t the government made the report public at panchayat level?
Do you think the Opposition will try to ‘mandalise’ the country in the run-up to 2024 polls?
It cannot be an issue, but a political ploy of the Opposition, which has no issue except to survive by creating a false narrative. What they say and what they do has been exposed in the present era of developmental politics heralded by PM Modi.
The Opposition alleges the government got the women’s reservation bill passed in the House keeping in view the 2024 elections. It says the government is not implementing it until 2029…
The passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was a historic moment. The Opposition wants the Bill to get struck over legal issues by calling its immediate implementation. The women of the country know that the Bill will be implemented with full legal force by 2029. There is a way to implement it. Without conducting the census, the government cannot decide how many and which seats will be reserved for women. And delimitation is needed for fair and transparent implementation.