Pitching for a comprehensive classification of caste data before its release, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that once in public domain it will hit leaders like Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar the most. Paswan, Lok Janshakti Party chief, also claimed the Extremely Backward Castes among the OBCs have shifted allegiance to the NDA led by Indian Prime Minister, who himself belongs to EBC.
“LJP’s demand is that even if there is some delay, the government should make the caste data public only after its thorough classification. The categorisation will take time but when it is out, those who are making the maximum noise over it will be hit the hardest,” he said.
Bihar’s JD(U) Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who have stitched up an alliance for the state Assembly polls, have been insisting on the data being released immediately.
Parties like Samajwadi Party, JD(U), RJD and DMK have criticised the Centre for not releasing the caste-based data in the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), the first in eight decades since 1912. The government on Thursday set up an expert group headed by NITI Ayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya to collate caste count and blamed the states for not being able to complete the consolidation of different categories.
“Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar, who have benefited from Mandal politics, will be the big losers as other smaller castes among backwards, who together numerically outnumber some particular dominant upper castes, will seek their share of power,” Paswan told Reportes in an interview.
Paswan, who was a member of the V P Singh Cabinet when Mandal Commission’s recommendations were implemented, also said the NDA, of which he is a part now, will win Bihar polls hands down if the data comes out.
On Lalu and Nitish Kumar’s contention that Narendra Modi was not the first OBC Prime Minister as claimed by BJP chief Amit Shah, Paswan said former PM H D Deve Gowda was a Vokkaliga, which is a powerful community in Karnataka.
“Modi’s caste falls under extremely backdward castes (EBC) in Gujarat,” he said and exuded confidence that EBCs will vote for NDA. Quoting from Ram Manohar Lohia’s book “Wheel of History”, Paswan said the late socialist leader had predicted that power will first transfer from upper castes to powerful castes among OBCs, but if the dominant castes among OBCs behave in the same manner with the lower castes, the lower castes will ally with upper castes again.
Paswan said it was witnessed in Uttar Pradesh when Dalits and upper castes, especially Brahmins, joined hands with Jatavs under Mayawati. “It will happen in Bihar as well. Upper castes, extremely backward castes, dalits and mahadalits have already come together.
Last Lok Sabha polls. It will happen again,” he said.
“I want to ask what Kush got during Nitish’s rule. Upendra Kushwaha had to part ways with him and now he is a Union minister,” he said. Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, which broke away from JD(U), is a part of the NDA.
Asserting that JD(U)-RJD alliance has “no future”, the LJP president claimed Yadavs will not vote for candidates of Nitish Kumar’s party.
“Past experience shows that Laluji fails to get his votes transferred to other alliance partners. His vote base never voted for LJP candidates when we fought in alliance with Lalu,” he said.
The Supreme Court on June 29 stayed the direction issued by the Tripura High Court to the Central
ICAI CA Results: ICAI CA Final, Inter May 2023 result released; can download like this
ICAI CA Final Inter Result 2023: ICAI CA Inter, Final Result 2023 has been announced by the Insti
New York: Teen arrested for hate crime, besides elderly Sikh tourist, two other Sikhs were attacked
A 19-year-old teenager has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the attack on three Sikh
Padma Vibhushan Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya has directly challenged Saint Pre
Jammu Kashmir: Tension after hate speech in Bhaderwah, the administration imposed a curfew
Conspiracies are continuing to create tension in Bhaderwah (Doda) and Kishtwar districts through
Congress Presidential Elections: It is becoming a difficult task for the Congress high command to
India's young fast bowler Mohammad Siraj is no longer the number-1 ODI bowler in the world. He is
Indian fan proposed to girlfriend during IND vs NED match, know whether the girl said yes or no
Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma scored half-centuries as India beat the Netherlan
Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh is in the news these days for his most-awaited film Dhurandhar. Now
The 12th match of IPL 15 will be played between Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad from
