Opp flags ‘chinks’ in Bihar caste survey: ‘Enumerators didn’t visit our family’

Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) chief Chirag Paswan and Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal (RLJD) head Upendra Kushwaha have been insisting on “fresh survey”, alleging discrepancies in counting number of families and their respective caste. According to the survey, Dusadh (Paswan) and allied castes accounted for 5.31% of the population, while Kushwahas (Koeris) stood at 4.21%.

Paswan said: “The enumerators did not reach out to our family and several neighbours at our paternal village of Shaharbanni in Khagaria. The caste survey looks like a completely botched up exercise and needs to be rectified… even a fresh survey should be conducted in certain areas where complaints are maximum.” His party accused the state government of “inflating the number of several castes because of political reasons”. “It looks as if the survey in some areas was done from a closed room without physical verification,” LJP (R) spokesperson Vinit Singh said.

National Lok Janshakti Party chief and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, who otherwise does not agree with his nephew Chirag on most matters, said: “I have also received complaints from my village about enumerators not reaching them.”

Kushwaha said he will lead a march to Raj Bhavan in Patna on October 14 to demand a fresh survey. “How can the government arrive at a cumulative number of a particular caste? I also wonder at the urgency of completing the survey. The government should have taken time, said Kushwaha, who used to claim his community is about 6% of the state population.

BJP OBC Morcha national general secretary Nikhil Anand said: “Lalu Prasad and Nitish together have ruled Bihar for 33 years now. They should tell what they have done for the OBCs and EBCs. Caste survey is nothing but a political stunt and tool. The survey is done in a great haste and hence, it has anomalies, which should be corrected immediately.”

JD (U) spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar, however, said: “Now that the CM has asked all districts to look into complaints of those left out, no one should play politics over it. The NDA must not forget that it was a united decision to hold the survey.”