Two days after the first instalment of data from the Bihar caste survey was released, the BJP kept up its insistence that there were errors, with party MP Ravi Shankar Prasad claiming that no one met him or his family to collect their information despite him being a resident of Patna.
The state public relations department countered, saying his and his family's data was collected as per norms. This prompted Mr Prasad to post that the form states that the head of the family's signature is a must, and his wasn't taken.
The BJP leader's comments invited a strong reaction from Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, who said all those who have a problem with the survey data should ask the Prime Minister to get it conducted for the entire country. He also claimed that the BJP was trying to have its cake and eat it too, by both welcoming and criticising the survey
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Prasad said that while his party had supported the caste survey in Bihar, no enumerator had met him or his family to gather their information despite him being the Lok Sabha MP from Patna Sahib. He said someone had asked a person outside their house for the details and alleged that similar complaints had been received from many parts of the state.
He also repeated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charge that the ruling coalition in Bihar, which consists of the Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and three Left parties, had got the survey done to create a divide in the country. He also demanded that the data be made public to ensure transparency.
The state public relations department issued a rebuttal and said that the information from the MP was collected as per the laid-down norms and that the data could not be released as that would lead to privacy issues.
Escalation
Later in the day, Mr Prasad posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the signature of the house owner is a must as per the caste survey form, and his was not taken. He alleged that lakhs of people have similar concerns.
"How much importance should be given to the response of the Public Relations Department? My direct question is that, according to the caste survey form, the signature of the house owner is necessary but my signature has not been taken nor have I been contacted even though I am the head of the family. Lakhs of people in Bihar have similar concerns that they were not contacted by the surveyors and their signatures were not taken. Misrepresentation should stop," Mr Prasad posted in Hindi.
Asked about Mr Prasad's comments, Tejashwi Yadav, pointed out that all parties in Bihar, including the BJP, had supported the caste survey. He also slammed the party for both welcoming the survey and criticising it.
"The caste survey has been done and now some people are raising objections. They are welcoming the survey and objecting at the same time. If they have so many objections, why don't they ask PM Modi to get the Centre to do it? How long have we been making that demand? If they don't trust our survey, they should ask Modiji to get it done in the whole country, and, if not, at least in Bihar," Mr Yadav said in Hindi.
"All they have to do is add a column. Forget the caste census, they have not been able to conduct the normal Census since 2021. These people raise objections when someone gets the work done and praise the people who don't," the RJD leader mocked.
The data from the Bihar caste survey revealed that nearly 63.1% of the state's 13.1 crore population belongs to a backward class and roughly 85% are members of a backward or extremely backward class, or a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.
The general category makes up just 15.5 per cent of the population. Among the Other Backward Classes, the biggest group is the Yadav community, which accounts for 14.27% of all OBCs.
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