Priya Aditi
On Sunday, Amit Shah, the union home minister, attacked the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government and accused it of “intentionally” inflating the Muslim and Yadav populations in the state’s caste survey. Additionally, he criticised the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ administration for engaging in ‘appeasement politics’.
“The determination to carry out the caste survey in Bihar was established during the JD(U)’s tenure as an NDA member. However, the methodology employed in the survey exposes the Mahagathbandhan government’s true intentions… the Muslim and Yadav populations were inadvertently inflated for the purpose of the exercise, Amit Shah stated at a rally in the Muzaffarpur district of Bihar.
He further stated, “…The government has no regard for the welfare of individuals from other backward communities.”
Based on the findings of the caste survey unveiled on October 2, 36.01 percent of the population was comprised of extremely backward communities (ECB), which comprised 112 castes. The remaining 27.12 percent was comprised of backward castes (30 communities). The combined proportion of the state’s backward castes and EBCs, known as other backward classes (OBC), is 63.13 percent. In contrast, the SC comprises 19.65 percent of the population and ST accounts for 1.68 percent.
In the interim, Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister of Bihar, condemned Shah’s allegation and advised him to undertake a caste census of the state.
Amit Shah posits that the Bihar caste survey intentionally exhibited a greater representation of the Muslim and Yadav communities. Yadav told the media, “I simply wish to advise him that if that has transpired, he ought to undertake a caste census throughout the nation, including all states governed by the BJP.”
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As he continued his assault on Shah, the deputy chief minister of Bihar stated, “He is the source of all these nonsense statements…When he arrives, he continues to tell falsehoods and utter nonsense because he is at a loss for words. There is a position distribution taking place; he refuses to discuss that.”
