The release of the caste survey results by the Bihar government has created a flutter. The opposition is ecstatic and is now planning to make it a big poll issue. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre, however, is now left wondering what could be an effective counter. The BJP has said it needs more time to have a nationwide caste census. The national census has been pending since 2021 as it was halted due to the Covid pandemic.
The caste-based census collects information on the economic status and other caste-related information of every Indian in both rural and urban areas to help authorities define deprivation indicators and map inequalities at a broader level. This is over and above a general census, which essentially is a calculation of the population. A caste census or survey would and could be part of this census. The census would merely add another form, asking people which caste they belong to.
Based on the figures, the government can decide how to spread the benefits of its schemes. The opposition parties feel that this would help them as they want to build the narrative that the BJP only cares for the upper castes, and the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are being ignored. If you go by the figures of the caste survey of the Bihar government, the OBCs, SCs, and STs form about 84% of the population. If the opposition can tap even three-fourths of this vote base, it would be good news for it.
That’s the reason why the Congress specifically is hoping to use the caste census narrative to swing votes for itself. Parties like the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), and even Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam are not very hopeful of getting Brahmin or upper-caste votes. The comments on Sanatan Dharma, for example, by DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin were against Brahmanical tradition and hegemony. That’s why DMK would happily push for a caste census.
The last caste census was in 1931, which was used by the Mandal Commission to fix quotas. The previous general census of 2011 had a survey of SCs and STs, but the figures were never revealed and this is what the opposition wants the government to divulge.
The new electoral slogan for 2024 is now based on the caste census. The BJP is attacking the Congress, alleging that little has been done for the OBCs in terms of job reservation in states where the latter is in power. The INDIA front begs to differ and will step on the gas over this issue.
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