RJD accuses Centre of attempting to block caste survey in Bihar

New Delhi: The Rashtriya Janata Dal on Tuesday accused the Centre of attempting to stop the caste survey in Bihar and "depriving" a large section of society of their rights.

RJD MP and party spokesperson Manoj Jha claimed that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's presence in court on the matter shows that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is directly involved in attempting to block the caste survey.

"On PMO's directions, there is an attempt to block the caste survey which is almost complete in Bihar. This shows that the BJP and the Sangh want to deprive such a big section of society of their rights. This is their priority," Jha said in a video statement.

His remarks come a day after the Centre told the Supreme Court that only it is empowered to conduct a census under the relevant law as the subject falls under the Union list of the Constitution.

In an affidavit filed in connection with a batch of petitions challenging the Patna High Court giving the go-ahead to caste survey in Bihar, the Centre said the Union of India is committed to taking all affirmative actions to uplift the SCs, STs, SEBCs and OBCs in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the applicable law.

In his remarks, Jha said, "Tushar Mehta's presence clearly shows that PMO is directly involved in blocking caste survey. The fifth point in the affidavit says 'census and anything akin to census', which shows there is an attempt to block the survey also. When a hue and cry was raised they said this was an inadvertent error." It was not "inadvertent" but it was "deliberate" to block the survey, he said.

"You (Centre) are giving life to a volcano by depriving such a large section of the society of its rights. By doing all this, you are getting exposed. You can't stop the caste survey," he said.