JD(U) Joins Opposition Demand for Caste Census Discussion in Parliamentary OBC Panel

New Delhi: The Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) supported opposition members’ demand that there be a discussion on a caste census in the first meeting of the parliamentary committee on the welfare of other backward classes (OBCs) on Thursday (August 29), The Wire has learnt.

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The committee, which was reconstituted earlier this month, includes 30 MPs and is headed by BJP MP Ganesh Singh, conducted its first meeting on Thursday to discuss the selection of subjects for detailed examination during 2024-25.

Sources said to The Wire that the demand for a discussion on a caste census was first raised by DMK MP T.R. Baalu, followed by Congress MP Manickam Tagore and then JD(U) MP Giridhari Yadav, who said there should be a discussion on a caste census.

The JD(U) is a key ally of the BJP in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. After falling short of a majority on its own by winning 240 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP relied on its allies to form the government.

The JD(U) with 12 MPs and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with 16 MPs are the BJP’s key alliance members.

Sources said that opposition members cited media reports of the possibility of the population census being conducted soon during the meeting. 

The opposition members are learned to have said that officials from the Union home ministry should be called to the committee and that a discussion must be held on when the population census will take place and the preparations for it.

They also called for a discussion on whether a caste census will be conducted alongside the population census.

The Wire has learnt from sources that Singh, the committee’s chair, agreed to make the population census one of the subject matters for discussion.

While the decadal census that was scheduled to be held in 2021 has been delayed and the Union government is yet to take a call on when it is to be conducted, active discussions are underway to expand data collection to include a caste column, The Hindu reported earlier this month.

The JD(U), while in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar, conducted a caste survey in the state.

The party has reiterated that as a social justice party, it will not step back from its demand for a nationwide caste census despite rejoining the NDA.

A caste census has been an ongoing demand for the opposition parties of the INDIA bloc and was also raised during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign. Just last month, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi reiterated the demand in his speech during the discussion on the budget.

Sources said that the parliamentary committee meeting on Thursday also saw opposition members demand that a national commission for OBCs be made the first subject in the discussion list.

It is learnt that opposition members including Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee said that there was a need to identify how many classes are backward and the extent of their socio-economic backwardness.