Hours after the Bihar government issued the case-based census, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi underlined his demand that the more the population, the higher the rights, news agency IANS reported. He stated that the census indicated that the state's OBC, Schedule Caste, and Schedule Tribes (ST) population is 84%, and that it is thus critical to understand India's caste data.


Taking to X, Rahul Gandhi stated: “The caste census of Bihar has revealed that OBC (other backward classes), SC and STs are 84 per cent there. Out of 90 secretaries of the Central Government, only three are OBCs, who handle only 5 per cent of India's budget."


“Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics of India. The greater the population, the greater the rights – this is our pledge,” he stated. 






His statements came after the Bihar government issued the long-awaited caste-based census on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary.


On the similar lines, AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Bihar caste census report stated: "Caste-census should be held in the entire country."


"I want to thank the Bihar government," said UP Congress chairman Ajay Rai of the caste-based census data presented by the Bihar government.


In a post on X, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said: “The Bihar government has just released the results of the Caste Survey conducted by it in the state.”


“While welcoming the initiative and recalling similar earlier surveys in other states like Karnataka by Congress governments, the Indian National Congress reiterates its demand that the Union government conduct a national Caste Census at the earliest. The UPA-2 government had, in fact, completed this Census but its results were not published by the Modi government. Such a Census has become essential for providing a firmer foundation for social empowerment programmes and for deepening social justice,” Ramesh said.






On the caste-based survey report, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said: "After doing everything the result came out. We have taken the financial condition of every family... Tomorrow in all party meetings we will keep everything in front of everyone...The government will take all the necessary steps after taking everyone's suggestions in the meeting."






"From the beginning, our demand has been to have a caste-based census. But we have had a caste-based survey. The scientific data of the caste-based survey has been released today...We have done historic work in a short span of time and released the data...Our fight has been for social justice and economic justice. So, Govt will make an effort for the same. We will try to bring in welfare schemes based on the scientific data," Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav stated. 






On the other hand, while slamming the report, BJP leader Ajay Alok stated: "It's not a caste-based census; it's a census based on caste groups. Where is it documented about each caste's financial or educational status and which castes have not benefited from reservation? Will you formulate caste-based policies or initiatives? What will you derive from this? You won't gain anything from this, you've only wasted 500 crore rupees on this."






According to the report, Bihar has a population of over 13 crore people, with the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) accounting for 36.01 percent of the population, the Other Backward Classes (OBC) accounting for 27 percent, the Scheduled Castes accounting for 19.65 percent, the Scheduled Tribes accounting for 1.68 percent, and the Upper Castes accounting for 15.52 percent.


Yadavs make up 14.26 percent of the backward classes, while Kushwahas and Kurmis make up 4.27 percent and 2.87 percent, respectively.


Last year, the caste-based census was approved by both Houses of the Bihar Vidhan Mandal, and every major party supported it.


(With Inputs From Agencies)