- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
The Bihar government’s report said around 63 per cent of the state’s population is from the backward classes.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday (2) lambasted the opposition accusing it of “trying to divide the country” after the government of the eastern state of Bihar made public its controversial caste-based survey.
While he did not refer to the survey or any specific party, he slammed the opposition in the poll-bound central state of Madhya Pradesh saying it failed to secure development while in power and attacked them for “playing with feelings of the poor”.
“They played with emotions of the poor back then… and even today they are playing the same game. Earlier they divided the country in the name of caste… and today they are committing the same sin. Earlier they were guilty of corruption… and today they are even more corrupt,” he said in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.
Modi also called any attempt at “division on caste lines” a “sin”.
The prime minister’s remarks were seen by many as a dig at the Janata Dal (United), the ruling party of Bihar and the Indian National Congress, which is a part of the government of Bihar and in opposition in Madhya Pradesh.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has vowed to undertake a caste-based survey in Madhya Pradesh if it returns to power there to know the exact number of people belonging to the other backward classes. Elections are due in the state ruled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party later this year.
After the government of Bihar revealed its survey report, Gandhi reiterated on X his party’s demand that the Modi government conduct a caste census nationally at the earliest.
“The (Congress-led) UPA government had, in fact, completed this census but its results were not published by the Modi government. Such a census is essential for providing a firmer foundation for social empowerment programmes and for deepening social justice,” the Congress said.
The Bihar government’s report said around 63 per cent of the state’s population is from the backward classes, and over 20 per cent are from Scheduled Castes or Tribes. The ‘general population’ is about 15.5 per cent.
The report, which was revealed months before the national elections in a state that has 40 parliamentary seats, 39 of which were bagged by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the 2019 polls, is likely to put more pressure on the national government to conduct a country-wide count as more states push for a similar exercise.
The southern state of Karnataka held a caste-based survey in 2014 but did not reveal the data. Another southern state Telangana also announced one for 2021 but it was never carried out. The eastern state of Odisha said this year that it too would hold a caste-based survey.
