The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and its rival, INDIA bloc, in an effort to project themselves as the champion of backward classes in Bihar, on Wednesday sought to claim credit for the Union cabinet's decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census.
Welcoming the move, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, said a caste survey was conducted in Bihar due to his initiatives. “Our demand for caste census is longstanding," Kumar wrote on social media platform ‘X’, thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the decision. Kumar, who heads the Janata Dal (United), a key NDA ally, said this would accelerate the development of the country.
Crediting the move to a "30-year struggle" led by his father Lalu Prasad, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav said the caste census decision was a "historic victory for social justice. Despite several rejections in the past, “RJD’s consistent struggle has forced Modi government to act on our agenda , said Yadav, whose party is an important constituent of INDIA bloc.
Lalu Prasad said the demand was first made when he was the president of Janata Dal in 1996-97. However, the then NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not implement a previously approved cabinet decision, Prasad said, adding that “what we socialists thought 30 years ago, others follow decades later."
However, NDA leaders countered these claims. Union Minister Chirag Paswan thanked Modi, saying it fulfilled a long-standing demand of his party, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).
BJP leader and Bihar deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary described it a "revolutionary decision" that would help create effective welfare policies for marginalised communities.
Earlier in the day, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had announced the decision after a cabinet meeting chaired by Modi.
Notably, Bihar had become the first state to publish a caste survey report in October 2023 when Nitish Kumar was heading a coalition government with RJD and Congress.