Patna (Bihar) [India], January 19 : Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha accused Congress of being hypocritical on Sunday, saying that whenever the topic of a caste census was brought up during an INDIA alliance meeting, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi "remained silent" on the issue.
"I was also present in the meeting of INDIA alliance where Nitish Kumar kept raising the issue of caste census in every meeting... Rahul Gandhi remained silent on it," Jha told reporters.
His remarks come after Rahul Gandhi called Bihar's caste census "fake."
The Congress leader has raised the demand of conducting a nationwide caste census in the Parliament, likening it to an 'X-ray' of society.
Jha also praised the Bihar CM for conducting the census, calling him the only leader to conduct the census in Bihar.
"After 1931, Nitish Kumar is the only leader in the country who conducted the caste census in Bihar. The action that was to be taken on the survey has also been done," he said.
On January 18, the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition had lashed out at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, calling the state's caste census a "fake" one.
Speaking at the 'Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan' in Patna, the Congress MP said, "Caste census should be conducted to understand the true situation of the nation. It will not be like the fake caste census that has been conducted in Bihar...A policy should be made based on the caste census...Congress will pass the caste census in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. We will demolish the barrier of 50 per cent reservations..."
Targeting the BJP, he said, "When they came to know that the people from the backward community, Dalits are taking the representation, they gave you the representation but took away the power. The power has been given to Ambani, Adani and RSS. They put their people in every organisation...", he alleged.
Notably, the Caste Census was conducted in Bihar under the JDU-RJD-Congress alliance headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.