Tejashwi Yadav tries to unite Oppn on caste census | Economic Times

Opposition parties are planning to corner the BJP by raising the issue of the Union government submitting an affidavit in the Supreme Court on Thursday that a caste census would not be feasible in 2021. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav wrote to 33 senior leaders of different political parties on Friday, asking them for their suggestions and inputs on the issue so that an immediate plan of action can be prepared on the issue.Apart from leading opposition leaders such as Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Navin Patnaik, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav, MK Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray and Sitaram Yechuri, Tejashwi wrote to Jitan Ram Manjhi and Mukesh Sahni, who are part of the NDA.Yadav urged the senior leaders in his letter that before the census exercise begins they all must urge the Union government to include within the delayed 2021 census a caste census as well. "There is a churning all over India to know the critical reality of our own people," RJD leader Manoj Jha told ET. "The next step could be a meeting of all the important leaders with respect to how to take it forward in respective assemblies and on the streets."On Sunday, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren will lead an all-party delegation of 11 leaders to meet the home minister on the issue of caste-based census. Soren had earlier sought time with the Prime Minister on the issue. However, the PM being in the US, the delegation will meet the home minister. The delegation also has BJP state president Deepak Prakash and AJSU leader Sudesh Mahto, who is part of the NDA.