RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat (File)
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ruling BJP's ideological mentor, on Thursday offered conditional support for a national caste census - which will be a key issue in the build-up to next year's general election. The RSS said it welcomed "any affirmative action that is scientific and not conducted for electoral benefits alone... (but) to address disparity (in a Hindu society)".
The RSS was responding to one of its senior officials - Shridhar Gadge - declaring his opposition to a caste census on grounds it may offer political benefit to "some people", it had no practical use.
In a statement this evening, the RSS said, "Our view is a caste census should be used for the (betterment) of society. While carrying out this exercise, all parties should ensure social harmony and unity are not broken." The RSS also said it would continue to "work for a Hindu society... "
On Tuesday Gadge told reporters, "... there should no caste-based census because there is no reason to do it. What will we achieve? It is wrong. There should be no inequality, enmity or quarrel..."
He also dismissed links to affirmative action, after those supporting the exercise, including the Congress, said it would help identify communities most in need of reservation to help ensure their representation in socio-economic and political spaces, as well as in educational institutions and jobs.
"Reservation is a different thing, and you can eradicate caste system. I will be of the caste in which I am born and it (caste) will be mentioned when it comes under reservation," Gadge declared.
Calls for a caste census have gathered steam over the past weeks, particularly after the Bihar government released data from a caste survey conducted earlier this year.
READ | Bihar Assembly Passes Bill For 65% Caste Quota, Past Supreme Court Cap
Days later Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's cabinet passed a bill to increase reservations for Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes. The bill - which takes reservation past the Supreme Court's 50 per cent cap - is now with Governor Rajendra Arlekar.
The data - coming months before the 2024 Lok Sabha poll - underlined the electoral importance of OBCs and marginalised communities - for the BJP and the opposition, and the saffron party seemed to acknowledge that in its selection of chief ministers and deputies for the three states it won this month.
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The INDIA opposition bloc, of which Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) is a member, has demanded the BJP administer the same exercise across the country. It has vowed to do so should it win next year's election. The Congress, a member of INDIA, has said it will conduct a census in states it rules.
The demands put the BJP in a spot of bother, particularly since the party's Bihar lawmakers had voted for the state survey. The BJP had previously fiercely opposed a national caste census.
READ | Caste Census In Spotlight With Amit Shah Saying BJP Never Opposed
Faced with changing circumstances, Home Minister Amit Shah said last month - days before elections in five Assembly polls, including in heartland states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh (all of which the BJP won) - said the party had never actually opposed a caste census.
The Congress has been among those most vocal on this topic, with Rahul Gandhi leading the charge in Parliament. He has called the caste census a "X ray" that could expose the oppressed and underrepresented condition of large sections of the country. Other parties, including Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, have also backed the caste count but have squabbled with each other too.
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