BJP cold to caste census, Nitish Kumar puts demand on the back burner, rolls back events, tours

Till only a few months ago, when the Janata Dal (United) was still part of the INDIA bloc, the central plank of its supremo and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appeared to be the demand for a nationwide caste census on the lines of the one his government — then involving the Mahagathbandhan alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and Left parties —conducted in the state.

Having released Bihar’s caste survey data in October 2023, Nitish also repeatedly projected it as a major achievement of his government.

But since crossing over to the BJP-led NDA last month, the Bihar CM has stopped raising his caste census demand. This is being attributed in political circles to the point that the BJP’s reaction to this demand has remained lukewarm.

Before joining the NDA, Nitish had said he would address public meetings in different states like Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to push for a nationwide caste census.

One such public awareness rally of Nitish was even scheduled on December 24 in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency. But that programme was deferred with the JD(U) then alleging that the local administration had not allotted a venue for it.

At the JD(U)’s New Delhi national executive meeting on December 29, where Nitish replaced Lallan Singh as party president, the party’s apex body had passed a proposal stating that the JD(U) would campaign for caste-based census outside Bihar. It was announced that from January, Nitish would tour different states to raise public awareness, beginning with Jharkhand. He would also participate in similar programmes hosted by other regional outfits in different states.

The JD(U) national executive had also lauded