The unreleased caste count data in the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 is set to become a hot political issue, with the Congress, the CPI(M), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK), the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Janata Dal (United) all demanding that it be made public.
With the Monsoon Session of Parliament slated to start on July 21, this is yet another issue on which a united Opposition could put the government on the mat.
The Janata Parivar parties will be in the forefront, with the JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav likely to take the lead in the Rajya Sabha, and the SP’s Mulayam Singh in the Lok Sabha.
Withholding the caste data could well become an electoral issue in the Bihar Assembly polls slated for later this year — elections in which the RJD-JD (U) combine and the BJP-led front seem evenly poised.
Lalu Prasad’s RJD and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), which have come together to fight the Assembly elections in Bihar together, have made a strong case to make the caste data public as they believe it might help them to consolidate OBC votes.
The Modi government has, however, categorically denied that withholding the caste count has anything to do with the Bihar elections.
But the RJD-JD(U) combine is all set to make it one: Mr. Prasad has announced that he will take up the cause with a march to the Raj Bhavan in Patna on July 13, while alleging that the Centre was not releasing the caste figures in a “planned conspiracy.”
