Lucknow: The issue of caste census is costing dearly to Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) with more of its alliance partners in Uttar Pradesh raising demand for it.
While Union Minister Anupriya Patel, general secretary of Apna Dal has supported the demand for caste-based census at national level, another ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Nishad Party too has come in support of it. Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), a new incumbent of NDA has already demanded for caste census in UP and also for increasing reservation limit for the backward.
Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel bats for caste-census
Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel had also made BJP uncomfortable when she echoed the voices of the opposition at the time of passing women's reservation bill in the parliament. She had supported the demand for a separate quota for backward in the women's reservation bill. Anupriya said that her party has always raised the demand for caste census in UP and at the All India level.
Nishad Party Chief and cabinet minister in UP, Dr Sanjay Nishad has said that his party is in favour of caste census right from the beginning. Nishad Party has a strong hold among the fishermen community in UP and has 11 legislators in the present UP assembly. The party has been with NDA since long and has contested the 2019 parliament as well as the 2022 UP assembly elections in alliance with the BJP. Dr Sanjay Nishad has requested the Yogi Government in UP to conduct a caste census so that the exact population of backward comes out. He said that the caste census in UP should be done on the basis of the census manual 1961 which says that all sub-castes of fishermen community be counted as scheduled caste.
Rajbhar demands caste-census in UP
Reacting on the report of caste census in Bihar, the SBSP Chief Om Prakash Rajbhar has said that his party has always favoured it and now the UP Government must take a step in this regard. The Deputy Chief Minister of UP, Keshav Prasad Maurya had already stated he is not averse to the idea of caste-based census.
Meanwhile, the state unit of BJP in UP is keeping mum over the demand of caste census. The party leaders in UP said that any decision in this regard would be taken at the national level.
