NDA netas counter RJD on caste census

Patna: The ruling BJP and JD(U) have dismissed opposition claims that PM Narendra Modi yielded to political pressure in announcing a caste-based enumeration alongside the upcoming national census.
BJP leader and deputy CM Samrat Choudhary criticised the Congress for attempting to take credit for the decision. "Congress, which now claims victory, had opposed the caste census and reservation from the Nehru era through to the Manmohan Singh govt. Congress remembered caste census only after being kicked out of power in 2014," he said.
JD(U) senior leader and parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary responded to RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav's comment that the caste census is "just the beginning" and that "the picture is not complete yet (picture abhi baaki hai)."
"RJD and Congress are desperate to claim credit for the caste-based census decision," Choudhary said. "In 2019 and 2020, the Bihar assembly unanimously passed resolutions urging the Centre to conduct the 2021 census based on caste. At that time, it was the NDA govt in Bihar. It was also the NDA govt that led an all-party delegation to meet the PM. Again, it was under the NDA govt that the council of ministers decided in June 2022 to issue a notification for the caste survey. So how can the RJD and Congress now claim credit?"
He questioned why the UPA govt, in power from 2004 to 2014, failed to conduct a caste-based census in 2011. "Congress leader Rahul Gandhi does not understand that the Telangana method lacks the accuracy and authenticity of the caste survey conducted by the Nitish government in Bihar. The country is aware of this fact. RJD and Congress leaders should not be under any illusion," he added.
Deputy CM Choudhary said the RSS and Union home minister Amit Shah had made it clear multiple times in September 2024 that both the organisation and the government supported a caste census. "BJP never opposed the caste census," he added.
He pointed to the Congress's past stance, saying, "The real face of Congress was exposed when then Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram opposed including caste in the 2011 census, suggesting that castes be counted separately."
Choudhary hailed the current decision as historic. "This is the first time since independence that a caste census will be conducted alongside the national census. I congratulate PM Modi for this landmark step," he said.