New Delhi: The INDIA bloc of Opposition parties appeared divided in its response to the release of the caste census data by the Bihar government Tuesday. While the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) welcomed the move, the Trinamool Congress maintained silence.
Within the Congress, the release of the Bihar caste data will mean that the high command in Delhi is likely to push the party-run Karnataka government to release data from a 2015 caste census conducted by the then Siddaramaiah government, senior leaders of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) said.
“The clamour for Siddaramaiah to publish the caste census data from 2015 may increase within the party,” said a senior Congress leader. “AICC may push for the data to be released.”
The leader pointed towards the statement issued by the INDIA coordination committee after its first meeting as well as the Raipur resolution adopted by the Congress after its plenary session earlier this year.
Both sought a nationwide caste census, and promised that such an exercise would be conducted if the Opposition came to power.
However, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, during internal deliberations of the bloc, has expressed reservations about conducting a caste census on the grounds that it “will lead to demands for self-governance in certain areas”, it is learnt.
On Monday, neither Banerjee nor any of her party leaders made a statement on the Bihar survey.
Posting on X soon after the data became public, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi reiterated his party’s motto regarding a nationwide caste census — “jitni aabadi, utna hak (rights proportional to share in population)”.
“The greater the population, the greater the rights — this is our pledge,” said Gandhi, who again alleged a lack of OBC representation in the government.
https://x.com/rahulgandhi/status/1708788188142239822?s=46&t=t7AHlgM88WL4YIbyJHxYUQ
Congress general secretary in-charge for communications, Jairam Ramesh, welcomed the caste survey. He talked about the caste census done by the Karnataka government, but did not say anything about its numbers being made public.
He, however, reiterated his party’s stance that the Union government conduct a nationwide caste census.
“The UPA-2 government had, in fact, completed this census but its results were not published by the Modi government,” he said in a post on X. “Such a census has become essential for providing a firmer foundation for social empowerment programmes and for deepening social justice.”
Senior Karnataka Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad said on X it was now “imperative for Karnataka to forthwith release the caste census conducted in 2017 (sic)”.
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Congress’ caste census conundrum in Karnataka
The Congress’ predicament vis-a-vis the caste census in Karnataka comes from within.
While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is learnt to be keen on releasing the data, he’s reportedly under pressure from Vokkaliga and Lingayat leaders in the party like D.K. Shivakumar and M.B. Patil to not make it public.
A part of the caste census was “leaked” in 2018, and it suggested that the Lingayats and Vokkaligas may not be the two dominant communities in the state, and their population numbers might be overstated.
The leaked numbers, which the government later claimed were fake, showed the Scheduled Castes and Muslims as the two most dominant communities in the state.
The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, which had submitted the caste-wise socioeconomic and education survey in 2015, has now sent it for a review by a team of academics.
While the Karnataka data is yet to be released, the Congress has promised a caste census in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh if it comes to power.
SP, AAP welcome move
AAP MP Sanjay Singh said the “caste census is an important issue in the entire country, caste census should be conducted”.
“Unless you know the numbers of each caste, it is not possible to do justice to all the castes in all the schemes and reservations of the government,” he said at a press conference in Delhi.
SP chief and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav called the caste census the “mathematical basis of social justice”.
“The caste census will not open a new path of 85-15 conflict but of cooperation. Those who are not domineering but are supporters of everyone’s rights, they support and welcome it,” he added. “The BJP government should leave politics and conduct a nationwide caste census.”
When “people come to know how many they are, then a self-confidence awakens among them and also a social consciousness against social injustice, due to which their unity increases and they can unite and overcome the obstacles coming in the way of their progress,” he added, writing in Hindi on X.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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