Patna, Aug 27 : Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Monday said that the demand for a caste-based census has long been a long-standing demand of RJD.





He claimed that the idea was first proposed during the 1996-97 tenure of the Janata Dal government.



'At that time, Lalu Prasad Yadav was the national president of Janata Dal, and the coalition government led by Janata Dal had decided to conduct the caste census in 2001,' Tejashwi Yadav said.



However, Tejashwi Yadav pointed out that this decision was overturned when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government came to power in 1999.



'The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government came in 1999 and turned down the decision. Nitish Kumar was a part of Vajpayee's cabinet at that time,' he added.



Tejashwi Yadav emphasised the continuous efforts made by Lalu Prasad Yadav and other socialist leaders in advocating for a caste census. He recounted that in 2010, Lalu Prasad Yadav, along with other socialist leaders, strongly urged then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to conduct a caste census in 2011.



'He (Lalu Prasad Yadav) had put forth strong arguments for the caste census, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved it. Following this approval, the parliament functioned smoothly," Tejashwi Yadav claimed.



He criticised the NDA government, which has been in power since 2014, for failing to conduct a nationwide census over the past decade.



'The NDA government came into power in 2014, and after 10 years, it has not conducted a census of the country. On the other hand, we were in power for 17 months in Bihar and conducted the caste-based survey successfully and also provided reservations,' he said.



Yadav warned the BJP that if the Union government does not conduct a caste census, the deprived, neglected, oppressed, and ridiculed classes would resist the presence of BJP members in their areas.



Tejashwi Yadav further challenged the Prime Minister, stating, 'I want to tell the Prime Minister that we will force him to conduct the caste census in the country.'



/IANS