Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence over the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad’s demand to make public data of the caste-based census and his lack of response to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's demand of special category status to Bihar on Saturday is likely to put the Bharatiya Janata Party in tight spot ahead of upcoming state assembly polls.
Modi during his day long visit, when he addressed at two places in Patna and delivered a long speech at his parivartan rally in Muzaffarpur, about 70 km from Patna, failed to counter Lalu's allegations that central government was withholding of data of the caste-based census.
“Modi neither promised to make public data of the caste-based census in his speech nor countered Lalu's campaign that has painted Modi's government as anti-poor and anti-Dalit-backward. It has vindicated Lalu’s stand,” RJD leader Ashok Sinha said.
Socio-political analyst Asroor Ahmed said Modi has exposed himself as defensive by not touching to say anything on Lalu and Nitish Kumar's main demand. It is significant in view of the fact that Lalu has already announced to make withholding of data of the caste-based Census a main issue in upcoming polls in Bihar.
Nitish Kumar is also ready to raise the old demand of granting special category status to Bihar during upcoming polls. He has made it clear that denial of special category status to the state by the Modi government will be a polls agenda.
Janata Dal-United spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said that Modi during last Lok Sabha polls promised a special package but yet to fulfil it.
“Modi has again made a promise only to give special package of more than Rs 50,000 crore to Bihar. But there is nothing new in it. He is totally silent over demand of special category status to Bihar despite promised during campaigning for Lok Sabha polls in 2014,” he said.
Nitish Kumar’s JD-U reiterated time and again that special category status is a must for the development of a backward state like Bihar. It pointed out that Bihar's per capita income, investments and electricity consumption are the lowest in the country and it also lags in all human resource indices.
Bihar would take at least 25 years to touch the national average of economic growth without special category status.
Lalu has targeted Modi's government for not ready to make the data public, and urged the “downtrodden and marginalised” people, Dalits and backward classes to fight for justice and rights.
Lalu Prasad said Sharad Yadav will join his fast on July 26 in Patna to protest the withholding of the Census data, and called for a Bihar bandh (shutdown) on July 27.
Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar speak during an event in Bihar on Saturday. Photograph: PTI
