In yet another move that puts the BJP on the defensive, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that his government would start work on caste-based census in the State and as a first step towards this, has called for an all-party meeting to be held on May 27. In October last year, in a submission to the Supreme Court, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre had already ruled out the possibility of holding a nation-wide caste census.
“We will call an all-party meeting to know their views on caste-based census and have spoken to some parties to conduct the meeting on May 27 but still waiting for some of them to respond. The proposal of all-party meeting will go to the State cabinet meeting and then we will start work on conducting caste-based census”, Mr. Kumar said while speaking to media persons in Patna.
When Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad, who was accompanying Mr. Kumar, was asked whether the BJP supported the idea, Mr. Prasad gave a non-committal reply. “We’ll discuss it and consider various aspects (of it),” he said.
