Mayawati assures full support to Modi govt... On this condition

BSP chief Mayawati on Friday said her party will support the central government both in Parliament and outside it, if it takes constructive steps for conducting census of the Other Backward Classes.

Her remarks come close on the heels of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday seeking an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the tricky issue of caste-based census which the Centre has proposed to hold only for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The CM said that he is waiting for the PM's response.

RJD Leader Tejashwi Yadav has asked the Nitish Kumar government to conduct the exercise “on its own” if the Centre refuses to budge from its stand.

The last caste-based census was conducted and released in 1931, while in 1941, the data was collected but not made public. In 2011, a socio-economic caste census was carried out but the data was again not made public on grounds of “discrepancies”.

Also See | Nitish says he has sought meeting with PM Modi to discuss caste-based census, but no response yet