BSP president Mayawati on Thursday said that her party was a strong supporter of a nation-wide caste census and the central government should come forward to initiate the exercise. Flaying the Samajwadi Party for its repeated demands for caste census in Uttar Pradesh, the former chief minister in a press statement said the party should have got the exercise done its own regime in the past. Her remarks on caste census came after the SP aggressively raised the demand during the ongoing budget session of the UP Assembly. The main Opposition party is also going to launch a state-wide campaign in support of the demand from Friday. Had it got the census done in its own government, the SP would not have to demand it from the BJP government time and again, Mayawati said. “The caste census should be held not only in UP but across the country. At the same time, they should come up with an accurate caste-wise population figures. For that, the Central government will have to come forward.” By supporting the need for caste census, the former CM has entered the ongoing debate between the SP and the BJP for OBC votes through the issue. Also, SP president Akhilesh Yadav had earlier asked his party MLC Swami Prasad Maurya, who in the past had a long association with the BSP, to start the campaign for caste census. But then the party assigned the task to party OBC cell state president Rajpal Kashyap.
