Karakat (Bihar), Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday profusely thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for agreeing to hold a caste census,a demand for which he had been raising passionately.
The JD(U) president was sharing the stage with the PM at Karakat, about 140 km from the state capital, where the latter launched development projects worth more than Rs 48,000 crore.
“Like late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Narendra Modi ji has been doing a lot for our state. Let us all salute him”, said Kumar, who has been a BJP ally since the 1990s, with a couple of phases of estrangement.
From former Bihar CMs Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav to chief minister Nitish Kumar, all political leaders have welcomed the Centre’s move.
Kumar commended the central government for the decision, and it was an old demand of socialist leaders like him. He said a caste census will help determine the population of different sections, which will facilitate the formulation of plans for their upliftment and development. “This will accelerate the country’s development. Congratulations and thanks to the Honorable Prime Minister, Respected Shri Narendra Modi ji, for the decision to conduct a caste census,” he said.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav said the Janata Dal decided to conduct a caste census under his leadership. “What we socialists thought about 30 years ago, like reservation, caste census, equality, fraternity, secularism etc. are followed by others decades later. When we demanded a caste census, we got a befitting reply from those who called us casteist. There is still a lot left. We will keep making these Sanghis dance to our agenda,” he wrote in a post on X.
