Bihar caste survey case: JD(U) hits out at BJP over Union govt’s intervention

Ruling Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) on Tuesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Union government’s intervention in the hearing of pleas against the Patna high court’s go-ahead for the caste survey in Bihar, saying the party has shown its true colours.

The Supreme Court on Monday gave the Union government a week to file its response in the matter after solicitor- general Tushar Mehta said the survey has some “ramifications”.

JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan said Mehta’s presence in the court exposed what the BJP was trying to do from behind the curtain. “The high court quashed the petitions against the survey. The Supreme Court said there was no question of staying it. Now, Mehta has intervened, maintaining that he also has something to say in favour of petitioners. This has removed the curtain. It shows the BJP is anti-poor, anti-reservation, and anti-extremely backward class.”

Bihar minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary echoed Singh said the turn of events on Monday unmasked the BJP and the Union government. “First, they tried to derail the process by getting public interest litigations filed, but failed due to the alertness of the Bihar government and the high court gave the go-ahead.”

Choudhary said the Union government intervened as it could not find a way out. He described as ridiculous the Union government’s stand that it is neither in favour nor against the pleas. “The only objective is to disrupt the survey.”

Bihar BJP chief Samrat Choudhary maintained his party has favoured the survey. He added the state’s previous National Democratic Alliance government approved it before chief minister Nitish Kumar ended JD(U)’s alliance with the BJP last year. “The BJP agreed to the request of Nitish Kumar for the survey and the previous Cabinet approved it unanimously. The BJP never backed out. The problem is that Nitish Kumar tries to play both ends. The Supreme Court must have called the solicitor-general and he went. The Narendra Modi government is committed to the progress of the poor, deprived and marginalised.”

The Supreme Court, which has ruled out any interim order or stay on the high court verdict until it is prima facie convinced that it was erroneous, has posted the matter for hearing next on August 28.

On August 1, the high court allowed the survey to proceed. The petitioners have argued the survey was being conducted like a census which only the Union government can undertake. They also maintained details sought about caste, religion, and profession for the survey violated the right to privacy and that there was no mechanism to protect this data.

The Bihar government on August 6 told the Supreme Court that the survey was complete and was being uploaded.

The high court said the census falls solely within the prerogative of the Union government but state governments are not prohibited from collecting data for welfare schemes and affirmative action.