Patna, May 17 Hours after Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi said that his BJP never opposed a caste-based census in Bihar, Education Minister and senior JD-U leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary on Tuesday said that he does not believe any friction between the two ruling allies on the issue.
"The resolution of caste-based census was passed in the Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad twice in Bihar and the BJP supported it. So it does not look like the BJP is opposing it.
"Caste-based census is in public interest. It would give an idea about which caste has the exact numbers. It will help to make policies," he said.
"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced that an all-party meeting will be called soon to take suggestions of leaders, followed by its preparation and executions. Nitish Kumar is used to taking decisions after deep analysis about positive and negative points. He never makes decisions in a hurry. Hence, we are sure about him that whatever decision he would take would be full proof," Chaudhary added.
Earlier in the day, Sushil Modi said that BJP never opposed a caste-based census in Bihar, pointing out that during the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, a senior BJP leader was part of the delegation and the party also supported the issue in the Legislaturel.
Meanwhile, political experts believe that BJP is flexible on this issue and taking decisions according to its strength at the Central level, in BJP-ruled states and the states where BJP is either in coalition in the government like in Bihar, or in the opposition like in Jharkhand.
The Centre has put the ball in the court of opposition parties. In BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh, a caste-based census is not an issue, and hence, there is no discussion on it in those states.
On the other hand, when it comes to states like Bihar and Jharkhand where the BJP is, respectively, an alliance partner in the government and in the opposition, it is swimming in the direction of the flow and going with the majority.
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