Nitish Kumar to part ways with BJP over caste census? Bihar Min says no clear decision yet

Amid rumours surrounding a rift between Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), another wave of speculations is now making rounds in the political circle that the Bihar CM is planning to part ways with the BJP on the issue of caste census in the state. 

While both Nitish Kumar and opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav are on the same page favouring the implementation of a caste-based census in Bihar, BJP still seems to be in a jittery stance. However, it had earlier voted in favour of it during a Vidhan Sabha session. 

Concerning the same, the State Education Minister and former speaker of the Bihar legislative assembly Vijay Kumar Choudhary spoke exclusively to Republic and asserted that the chief minister and the opposition leader are sharing the same views regarding the caste census. Further referring to the all-party meeting called by the Bihar CM, he added that the party has also mooted the proposal for convening the meeting on May 27 but has not received any confirmation from the BJP till now. 

In addition to that, putting rest to rumours of Nitish Kumar asking all of his MLAs to stay in Patna for the next 72 hours, Choudhary said that there is no basis for that, and the JD(U) and BJP are still together. 

On the other hand, Bihar deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad has said that the party will discuss the issue with the top leadership.

JD(U)-BJP rift over caste census

Notably, the news surrounding Nitish Kumar's rift with the BJP gained momentum after the Bihar CM and opposition leader Tejashwi both reciprocated by participating in the Iftar party hosted by each other. This also raised speculations on whether Kumar will be united with RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. 

In a recent, Nitish Kumar while speaking to the media on Monday informed about convening an all-party meeting for taking into consideration the views on a caste-based census. This came in view of the backing opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav who is also voicing the same demand. 

The meeting has been tentatively scheduled for May 27. 

"You all know that earlier Bihar assembly has passed two resolutions on caste census. This time we will have an all-party meeting where we will take a decision on it. The whole cabinet and all parties will sit and have a discussion and only after that any decision on the caste-based census would be taken", he said. 

Image: Facebook/@VijayKumarChoudhary/PTI