Lalu Prasad, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar slam Centre for withholding caste census data

BIHAR: On a day when Lalu Prasad hit the streets in Patna demanding disclosure of the caste census data, chief minister Nitish Kumar too slammed the Centre and said suppression of the caste figures would prove counterproductive for the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

While Lalu along with his two sons Tej Pratap and Tejaswi moved in an open jeep as he led the RJD protest march to Raj Bhawan, Kumar was also all aggression — when he talked to reporters on the sidelines of the Janata Darbar — against the Centre for not making public the details of the caste census.

Addressing party workers and activists, Lalu said a bigger movement than what was seen during the Mandal movement of the 90s will be launched if the Modi government did not release the OBC data.

Clearly, the two leaders have sharpened their Mandal plank realising fully well that the bulk of the upper caste votes will be bagged by the BJP. While the alliance of the RJD and JD(U) happened, there were problems because the Yadavas and conglomerate social groups contradictions among the dozens of backward caste which account for 60 per cent of the electorate, the two leaders obviously feel their demand for the caste census data will give them an opening to cement the OBC unity.