Modi insulted Bihar CM by not meeting him to discuss caste-based census, says RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had insulted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by not granting him time to meet and discuss the need to conduct a caste-based census, reported NDTV.

On August 5, Kumar said he had written a letter to the prime minister, seeking an appointment to press for a caste-based census. This came after the Modi government told the Parliament on July 20 that it had decided to not conduct a caste census.

Other prominent leaders from Bihar, including Yadav and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, have also supported Kumar’s demand. The Bharatiya Janata Party is the only party in Bihar that does not favour a caste-based census.

The only caste-wise data the next census would collate would be on Dalits and Adivasis, the same as every census in independent India’s history. India’s largest caste bloc – the Other Backward Classes – would not figure in the exercise.

This triggered a fresh demand for inclusion of the Other Backward Classes, who dominate the political scenario in Bihar post the implementation of the Mandal Commission report. The commission had recommended that members of Other Backward Classes be granted reservations to 27% of jobs under the central government.

At a press conference on Friday, Yadav pointed…

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