Patna, Aug 12 The issue of caste-based Census is hotting up in Bihar with BJP leaders slamming the stand of RJD chief Lalu Prasad on the issue.
BJP state unit chief and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jaiswal said that Lalu Prasad is a victim of low mentality after the latter gave a call to boycott normal Census in the country.
"Lalu Prasad was in power in Bihar for 16 years. Why didn't he go for caste-based Census during his tenure? He was also a Union minister during the tenure of UPA," Jaiswal said, after Lalu Prasad gave a call for boycotting the normal census through Twitter on Wednesday.
Lalu Prasad said that all backwards, extremely backwards, Dalits and minorities of the country might boycott the decennial Census if caste-based headcounts are not permitted in the upcoming 2021 Census.
"The Narendra Modi-led Central government is keeping everything in mind and implementing only those policies which will be beneficial for the country and the society," Jaiswal said.
"The Narendra Modi-led government has a clear agenda of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' and hence we will go for a normal Census in the country. Caste-based Census has happened just once in the history of Independent India and everyone knew about its consequences. Hence it was stopped at that time and was never repeated," said BJP leader Subhash Singh, who's also the Cooperative Minister in Bihar.
Pramod Kumar, Sugarcane Minister in the Bihar government, said: "Lalu Prasad boycotted normal Census on twitter. I will appeal to the people to avoid taking him seriously. Lalu Prasad had announced that Jharkhand cannot be separated from Bihar. He had also said that Jharkhand would be separated only over his dead body. Still, it happened during his tenure."
Besides Lalu Prasad and other opposition parties in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also advocated caste-based Census in the state and the entire country.
The Chief Minister had also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.
A JD-U leader had even said that if the Union government refuses caste-based Census, the Nitish Kumar government will conduct the same on its own cost in the state.
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