Decision on caste census will keep sentiment of all in mind: Eknath Shinde

Eknath Shinde’s remark comes a day after a RSS functionary told a visiting group of MLAs that the RSS did not support the call for a caste-based headcount

NAGPUR: The Maharashtra government will take an appropriate decision on demands for a caste census after taking eliciting the opinion of all sections of society and keeping sentiments of the people in mind, chief minister Eknath Shinde said on Wednesday.

Nagpur:Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde with party MLA Bharat Gogawle pays tribute to RSS founder KB Hedgewar at Hedgewar Smriti Mandir in Nagpur. (PTI)

Shinde’s cryptic remark comes a day after a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) functionary Shridhar Ghadge told a visiting group of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena legislators that the RSS did not support the call for a caste-based enumeration across the country and that such an exercise would only serve to exacerbate societal inequalities.

Shinde was asked about Ghadge’s remarks on Wednesday when he, along with cabinet colleague Deepak Kesarkar and some MLAs, paid tributes at the memorial of RSS founder Dr Keshav B Hedgewar and the second ‘sarsanghchalak’ MS Golwalkar.

Shinde said an appropriate and informed decision on caste-based census will be taken after taking the opinion of all sections of society and keeping sentiments of the people in mind, a point that he made more than once during the brief interaction with reporters.

The chief minister said that Maharashtra was a progressive state and its culture and traditions were different from other states. “Here all the communities and castes live together, work together and celebrate together. Hence, after taking the opinion of all sections of society an appropriate decision will be taken keeping feelings of the people in mind,” Shinde said.

Ministers and lawmakers of the BJP visit the memorials of the RSS’s founder and top idealogue during the winter session in Nagpur. In a first, this time they were also accompanied by leaders of the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction). Shinde said the visit to the memorials was a source of inspiration and not driven by politics.

Shinde said that they (Sena and BJP) were working together in a progressive state with all the castes.

“We are taking all decisions considering people’s feelings. The issue of Hindutva and the RSS’s office here has nothing to do with it and there is no politics in it. We are preserving the Hinduism of the thought of Balasaheb Thackeray and we are working on that thought only,” he said.

Highlighting their commitment to the principles of Hindutva and Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology, Shinde emphasized that their actions were aimed at ensuring the welfare and prosperity of all citizens, irrespective of caste or creed.