Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad on Wednesday reiterated the demand for a caste census and favored “breaking” the 50 per cent cap on reservation if SCs, STs and OBCs are found to be more than half of the total population.
Prasad, who is resting in Delhi after his release from jail earlier this year, made the remarks while addressing a training camp of his party workers here, to which he was connected online.
“I was the first to raise the demand for a caste census. I had made a demand on the floor of Parliament,” said a multiple-time former MP and railway minister in the UPA-1 government. The former Bihar chief minister, who is behind bars for a long time after his conviction in fodder scam cases, said, “My demand is for the welfare of all, including SCs and STs. The quota has been fixed keeping in mind the pre-independence census. We should have a new estimate of the population of different social classes.”
“The existing quota has been insufficient. And even these are rarely filled, resulting in huge backlogs. There should be a new caste census and everyone should get quota in proportion to their population. If it needs to break the 50 per cent barrier, so be it,” said Prasad, who attributes his rise in politics to the Mandal Manthan of the 1990s.
Prasad’s younger son and successor Tejashwi Yadav, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, had recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue of caste census as part of a delegation headed by the Chief Minister. . Nitish Kumar, the arch rival of the RJD supremo.
The Centre’s contention that only SCs and STs were proposed to be counted led to demands that the same be done for OBCs. In an order of the Supreme Court, a limit of 50 percent has been fixed on the quota.
Prasad, who is in his late 70s and suffering from multiple ailments, spoke for less than 30 minutes and left the audience craved for his wit and response, which made him a legend in his heyday Was.
Still, he tried to reassure his foot soldiers that his health was improving and that he would soon be in Bihar, visiting all the districts to activate the rank and file.
He also expressed satisfaction over the generational change in his party and appeared impressed by the RJD’s electrification drive and performance in the assembly elections last year.
“All of you under the leadership of Tejashwi did a great job in my absence. I am happy that we emerged as the single largest party, though we were denied power due to ‘bemani’ (deception).’ In constituencies where the contest was tight, they got a slim majority by determined officials stationed there.
Prasad also gave a thumbs up to his “disciplinary” state unit chief Jagdanand Singh, with whom his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav continues to pick fights.
A keen observer of politics, he categorically acknowledged the need for more discipline in the party and asked activists to take a leaf out of the book on the Left and coalition partners such as the Left. Samajwadi Party in adjoining Uttar Pradesh.
“Our polling agents are often found lax during elections. Such training camps should remove this defect. Look at our allies CPI and CPI(M) who keep conducting such workshops… I would also suggest that all our members wrap green colored ‘gamcha’ (thin towel) as a mark of identification. See SP. All its workers wear red caps,” said Prasad, who, despite his hugely successful political career, has been seen as a vagabond rather than a clearly defined set of rules.
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