Bihar Deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav says, “They are saying that the number of backwards and extremely backwards has been decreased and the number of Yadav has increased. Are Yadavs not backward?… On what basis are they saying that what has been increased or decreased? We have scientific data. They should have a basis to support it. On what basis are they saying it?.”
He further asked that if the data had to be manipulated then Chief Minister Nitish Kumar belonged to the Kurmi caste and he could have forged the figures to favour them.
BJP leader Sushil Modi said, “Amit Shah has rightly said that the number of Yadavs and Muslims was increased. In 1931, a caste-based census took place so at that time, 12.7% of Yadav population were in Bihar, now their population increased to 14.3 %. The population of Muslims in 1931 in Bihar was 14.6 % which has increased to 17.7%. So, under Lalu Yadav’s pressure, the numbers of particular castes were increased and the numbers of extremely backwards was more than what you’ve presented as 36%.”
Earlier, Shah on his first visit to Bihar after the caste-based survey was published by the Nitish Kumar government claimed that the population of Yadavs and Muslims has been increased in the survey thereby minimizing the rights of the Extremely Backward Classes.
“In the survey, the population of Yadavs and Muslims has increased and the population of Extremely Backward Classes diminished. The Lalu-Nitish combine has wronged the backward and extremely backward classes,” Shah said in a public meeting in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur on Sunday. (ANI)
