OBC politics plays out in UP, now deputy CM Maurya backs demand for caste census - Hindustan Times
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OBC politics plays out in UP, now deputy CM Maurya backs demand for caste census

Feb 05, 2023 08:38 AM IST

The demand for a caste census is based on the premise that it would help the government rework social justice rollout and identify such caste groups that are unrepresented or underrepresented.

Amid a fresh turn in backward politics in Uttar Pradesh, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has backed the opposition demand for a caste census, a move that is being viewed by analysts as a ploy to undercut the opposition plan to corner the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the issue.

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has said neither me, nor my party are in opposition on the subject (of caste census). (FILE PHOTO)
Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has said neither me, nor my party are in opposition on the subject (of caste census). (FILE PHOTO)

“I am all for it,” Keshav Prasad Maurya said, adding, “neither me, nor my party are in opposition on the subject.”

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Nevertheless, he had no answer as to why U.P. hasn’t yet followed the Bihar example, where a caste census has been announced.

The demand for a caste census - or scientific count of castes last undertaken in 1931 (a caste count was also done in 2011 but its data wasn’t shared) – is based on the premise that it would help the government rework social justice rollout and identify such caste groups that are unrepresented or underrepresented.

Asked about the move by Bihar’s OBC parties – Janata Dal (U) and Rashtriya Janata Dal – to go for caste census, Keshav Prasad Maurya, a prominent OBC face of the U.P. BJP, said: “Caste census taken up by any state government, is the prerogative of that government.”

“How can I say if they are acting against the Constitution?” he said to queries on the caste census in Bihar though he firmly made it clear that the BJP and he were not against the demand.

In its first term, the Yogi government had undertaken a ‘samajik nyay (social justice)’ survey though the survey committee report, which outlined more representation for lesser represented Dalit and OBC groups, hasn’t been implemented yet.

Hours later, the Samajwadi Party twitter handle got active, tagging Keshav Prasad Maurya’s video on the subject.

“By supporting the demand for a caste census, the BJP’s deputy CM Keshav Prasad has now raised questions about his own party’s governments at the Centre and in U.P. Akhilesh Yadav was the first to raise the caste census demand and has since done that continuously. Now, will Yogiji tell when, like Bihar, caste census would be ordered in UP,” the SP tweeted from its official handle.

Shortly after, the SP twitter got active again. “Ram Mandir Trust has just one Dalit and no OBC,” the SP said and asked if the temple trust, too, was in the grip of upper castes.

The deputy chief minister’s statement assumes significance as many OBC parties in the state, including those that are backing the BJP, like Nishad party and the ones which are again edging closer to the BJP like Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), have been backing the demand for a caste census.

The SBSP, while parting ways with the BJP in 2019, had cited non-implementation of the social justice committee report as one of the reasons for its decision.

“The Samajwadi Party has been using its non-Yadav OBC face Swami Prasad Maurya to connect with backwards and dalits by raising the issue of the alleged insult to backwards in the Hindu epic or by flagging the demand for caste census. Keshav Prasad Maurya’s move to side with the opposition demand thus appears to be part of ‘pressure cooker’ theory of not letting the opposition succeed in cornering the party. Who knows some government announcement might be coming on the subject too,” said Irshad Ilmi, a political expert.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Manish Chandra Pandey is a Lucknow-based Senior Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times’ political bureau in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Along with political reporting, he loves to write offbeat/human interest stories that people connect with. Manish also covers departments. He feels he has a lot to learn not just from veterans, but also from newcomers who make him realise that there is so much to unlearn.

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