Nitish Kumar reiterates demand for caste census, Jharkhand seconds

However, the Bihar chief minister, whose party’s ties with the BJP have been uneven for some time, refused to be drawn into any political implications of the issue.”Caste census is in the interest of the country. It will help the country’s development,” he said.After the Centre’s stand, many BJP leaders in Bihar have strongly defended the move and questioned the need for caste census.The BJP has made it clear that its stand on the politically fraught issue can be different from those, including some of its allies, supporting the step.***In a related development, in a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday, and an all-party delegation from Jharkhand led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren demanded that a caste-based census be conducted.The visit came close on the heels of the Centre telling the Supreme Court that a caste census of backward classes is “administratively difficult and cumbersome” and excluding such information from the purview of Census is a “conscious policy decision.”The delegation led by Soren included the Congress’ Jharkhand unit president Rajesh Thakur, BJP state president and Rajya Sabha member Deepak Prakash, Congress’ legislature party leader Alamgir Alam, AJSU president and ex-deputy chief minister Sudesh Mahato, and RJD leader Satyanand Bhoka.



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