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The ruling BJP hopes to take the sting out of the opposition clamour that it’s against backwards and Dalits by latching on to the caste census demand
BJP leaders say that by asserting the choice out of the blue, when the entire nation was awaiting some large announcement on the Pahalgam terrorist assault, the Narendra Modi authorities has tried to place its stamp all around the caste census and keep away from the opposition claiming any credit score.
(Representational Photograph: News18)
Caste and votes go hand in hand in Indian politics, particularly within the cow belt of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The BJP-led NDA authorities’s sudden determination on Wednesday night to conduct a caste survey together with the subsequent inhabitants census has as soon as once more introduced forth the significance of caste in politics.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Occasion hopes to take the sting out of the opposition clamour that it’s against backwards and Dalits by latching on to the caste census demand. The opposition events, particularly the Samajwadi Occasion in UP and Congress nationally, had been elevating the problem of a caste census, elevated illustration of OBCs and Dalits in authorities quotas, and the alleged menace to the Structure within the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls of 2024. The picture of Congress’s Rahul Gandhi and SP’s Akhilesh Yadav holding copies of the Structure in each rally they held within the 2024 parliamentary polls grew to become one of many lasting pictures of the elections and helped sharply enhance the Lok Sabha seats for the opposition in UP.
“By announcing the caste census, the BJP hopes to allay any impression that it was avoiding the issue. The BJP wants to avoid any sort of label being stuck on it, be it the threat of being anti-farmer, which led to the withdrawal of the controversial farm laws, or being dubbed anti-backwards or anti-quota by announcing the caste census,” says retired professor Ravi Kumar of the Jawaharlal Nehru College (JNU).
BJP leaders say that by asserting the choice out of the blue, when the entire nation was awaiting some large announcement on the Pahalgam terrorist assault, the Narendra Modi authorities has tried to place its stamp all around the caste census and keep away from the opposition claiming any credit score.
Akhilesh Yadav mentioned as a lot: “It is our 100 per cent victory. It was the collective pressure by the PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak – OBCs, Dalits and Minorities) that forced the government’s hand to announce the caste census. An honest caste census will help all castes get their dues in proportion to their population.”
However a BJP strategist identified that it was a well-timed determination because the matter was hardly a part of the nationwide discourse proper now, and the social gathering has claimed possession of the problem by asserting the caste census out of the blue. It could additionally assist blunt the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress marketing campaign within the Bihar polls, due shortly, the place the pending caste census challenge would have given the opposition a straightforward challenge to focus on the BJP, mentioned the strategist.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, whereas calling the choice historic, posted on social media website X that the choice would assist in social justice and data-driven good governance practices. In reality, even UP’s deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya had been elevating the demand for a caste census contained in the meeting and out of doors for a very long time now. “It will help society become stronger socially and economically. The Congress government had in the past conducted a census but only announced the population of SCs/STs. They did not give the figure of OBCs and other castes, which was a grave injustice,” mentioned Maurya, who’s seen because the BJP’s OBC face in UP.
The politics across the caste census stems from the truth that it’s broadly believed that it’s going to throw up figures exhibiting OBCs have elevated in massive numbers and due to this fact result in renewed vociferous calls for that they be given a much bigger chunk of energy and quota in authorities jobs. The final caste census of 1931 put the OBC inhabitants at 54 per cent. The caste survey carried out by the Nitish Kumar-led NDA authorities in 2023 had additionally indicated a sizeable enhance within the variety of OBCs.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has already raked up the demand. He mentioned on Wednesday, “The caste census was our vision. The first step has been taken. We will now pressure the Modi government to increase the job quota beyond the 50 per cent cap”.
The opposition Samajwadi Occasion, recent from its Lok Sabha success, had additionally been attempting to label the Yogi authorities as anti-backwards and Dalits. Akhilesh Yadav has been usually shelling out figures of how OBC and Dalit officers are being denied good postings within the police and administration and only some castes are being favoured.
He has been projecting Kurmis, a giant OBC caste, and Dalits within the second rung of management within the SP, and that helped shore up the social gathering’s numbers within the Lok Sabha polls.
In reality, the bid to indicate him as pro-Dalit led to an enthusiastic social gathering chief merging Akhilesh’s picture with that of Dr BR Ambedkar, which led to a lot controversy lately. The BJP, which sensed a shift of Dalits in direction of the SP within the Lok Sabha polls and was trying to stem the tide, was fast to lash out in opposition to Akhilesh for evaluating himself with an icon and statesman like Ambedkar, inflicting a lot embarrassment to the SP.
However now, with one stroke, Prime Minister Modi, himself an OBC, has put his stamp all around the caste census, and the BJP hopes it’s going to pay dividends not simply within the coming polls in Bihar (by when the census is predicted to start out and create a recent buzz) however the 2027 meeting elections in UP too (by when the census outcomes are anticipated to be prepared).
