"BJP is restless": JDU leader Neeraj Kumar's jibe at BJP over caste survey

Kumar said that the BJP is now restless because their lies are out of the bag.

"The report shows the possession of irrigated land, monthly income from all sources. The data shows how many people were given jobs by the Indian Government. Now their lies are going to be out in the open... The BJP is restless because their lies are out... The social and economic census is important for the country. We will start a mass movement for it", the JDU leader told ANI.

Earlier today, the Bihar government released caste survey data, with the figures that have ramifications for the Lok Sabha polls next year, showing that Other Backward Caste (OBC) and Extremely Backward Class (EBC) together account for 63 per cent of the states population.

The report of the caste-based survey conducted in Bihar was released at a press conference in the state capital.

The extremely backward class is 36.01 per cent, the general category is 15.52 per cent and the Other Backward Caste (OBC) is 27 per cent," Vivek Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary said.

According to the data, Scheduled Castes make up 19.65 per cent and the Scheduled Tribes 1.68 per cent of the population of the state.

The data also said that the Hindus comprise 81.99 per cent of the population, Muslims 17.7 per cent, Christians 0.05 per cent, Sikhs 0.01 per cent, Buddhists 0.08 per cent and other religions 0.12 per cent.

The data said that Yadavs, the OBC group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs, is the largest and accounts for 14.27 per cent of the states population.

Kushwaha and Kurmi communities form 4.27 per cent and 2.87 per cent of the population, the caste survey said. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar belongs to the Kurmi community in the state.

The total population of Bihar is more than 13 crore.

Earlier in the day, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar congratulated the entire team engaged in the work of caste-based enumeration stating that the survey not only revealed the castes but also gave information about the economic condition of everyone.

"Today, on the auspicious occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, the data of the caste-based census conducted in Bihar has been published. Many congratulations to the entire team engaged in the work of caste-based enumeration!" Bihar CM posted on 'X'.

"The proposal for caste-based enumeration was passed unanimously in the Legislature. It was decided with the consent of all 9 parties of the Bihar Assembly that the state government will conduct a caste-based census from its own resources and its approval was given by the Council of Ministers on June 6, 2022. On this basis, the state government has conducted caste-based census from its own resources," he said.

"Caste-based census not only revealed the castes but also gave information about the economic condition of everyone. On the basis of this report, further action will be taken for the development and upliftment of all sections, he added.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also hailed the cast survey stating, "The greater the population, the greater the rights this is our pledge".

Taking to 'X', Gandhi said, "The ste-census">caste census of Bihar has revealed that OBC + SC + ST are 84% there. Out of 90 secretaries of the Central Government, only 3 are OBC, who handle only 5% of India's budget! Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics of India. The greater the population, the greater the rights this is our pledge".

Notably, the Congress is a partner with the JDU in the INDIA bloc, formed to take on the BJP in the 2024 general assembly elections.

Also, the parties of the INDIA alliance have been demanding for a cast census across the nation stating that it will be conducive to the formulation of policies accordingly. (ANI)