RJD hails Centre’s Caste Census decision as victory of Lalu Yadav’s decades-long demand

New Delhi: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday welcomed the Central government’s decision to include caste-based enumeration in the upcoming national Census, calling it a long-overdue step and a major ideological victory for its chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.

RJD leaders, including Tejashwi Yadav, emphasised that the caste census has been their party’s demand for over three decades.

Speaking to IANS, Bihar’s Leader of the Opposition, Tejashwi Yadav, said: “This has been our 30-year-old demand. Our senior leaders have always championed this cause. In 1996-97, when the Janata Dal was in power, the proposal for a caste census was approved by the Cabinet. The Census is conducted every 10 years, so the exercise should have taken place in 2001. But under Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, it was stopped. Again in 2011, the proposal was cleared, and later, under the coalition government in Bihar, it was passed at the state level.”

“We not only raised the demand for a caste census nationally, but also pushed for reservation for backward and extremely backward communities. We urged Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi multiple times to initiate it at the national level. This is a win for Lalu Yadav and the socialist ideology he represents. The BJP is merely executing what we’ve been advocating for years. Now, it’s not just about releasing reports — the findings must lead to budgetary provisions and increased political representation for underprivileged communities, including seats in state Assemblies.”

Another party leader, Sanjay Yadav, stated that the Centre’s decision reflects the success of their sustained ideological struggle.

“This is a victory of the socialist ideology of our elders and especially of Lalu Prasad Yadav. In 1996, when the Janata Dal, led by Prime Minister Deve Gowda, was in power and Lalu Yadav was the party’s national President, a decision was taken to include caste data in the 2001 Census. However, the NDA returned to power in 1998 and reversed the decision,” he said.

“Since then, we’ve been demanding this repeatedly — in 2010, during the 2011 Census, and even when a socio-economic survey was conducted. However, the NDA government never made that report public. Under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav, the Bihar Assembly passed resolutions twice demanding a caste census. He met the Chief Minister and even led a delegation to meet the Prime Minister. Despite consistent denials by the Centre, our MPs kept raising this issue in both Houses of Parliament.”

“This decision is the result of our persistence, vision, and political foresight. It validates our policies and shows how sustained democratic pressure can lead to meaningful change,” Sanjay Yadav added.

IANS