Lucknow
With a caste survey report released in neighbouring Bihar, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress have demanded a similar exercise in Uttar Pradesh. BSP supremo Mayawati said on Tuesday that the Uttar Pradesh government should conduct a caste survey right away, adding that though some political parties are against it, it is the only way to ensure justice for the Other Backward Classes (OBC). SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) and the Congress have also pressed for a similar head count to figure out the numbers of different castes in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere. The state unit of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not commented on the issue. The data of the caste census conducted by the Bihar government being made public is in the news on Tuesday and intense discussions are going on about it. Some parties are definitely uncomfortable with this, but for the BSP, this is the first step in the long struggle for the constitutional rights of OBCs, Mayawati said on X. She said the BSP is happy that the country’s politics is taking a new turn in favour of the neglected Bahujan Samaj, as a consequence of which even the most extreme anti-caste and anti-Mandal sects have become worried over their future. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said although the state government should start a caste census or survey immediately in accordance with the sentiment of the public, the right solution will be found only when the Centre conducts the caste census at the national level and gives them their due rights.
