The SP and RJD staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha on Monday accused the government of dithering on caste census.
Speaking during zero hour, SP member Shailendra Kumar attacked the government for not going ahead with a census of OBCs and called it a step backward. He said it was a unique opportunity to acquire important data on the backwards. He said the government seemed to be in two minds on the issue.
As soon as he finished speaking, SP and RJD members began shouting slogans decrying the government’s attempt to ‘sabotage’ caste census. “Either enumerate the backwards or stop census,” they shouted. SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav led the walkout. The RJD side was led by Raghuvansh Prasad Singh since Lalu Prasad was not present.
Meanwhile, with political parties expected to respond to the Centre’s inquiry on their views regarding inclusion of caste in the ongoing census by August 7, BJP is expected to stick to its stated position supporting the move to enumerate caste. Sources said the BJP core was expected to meet on August 6 to take a final view on a divisive issue which has seen the RSS oppose a caste based census. Within the BJP, the divisions are clear enough as is the case in Congress with OBC leaders supporting the move and others being lukewarm.
