NEW DELHI, Jan 31
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said that Rahul Gandhi was taking “fake credit” for conducting the Bihar caste census after the latter claimed that it was the Congress and RJD who had pushed him to conduct it.
“Has he forgotten when the caste census happened? I conducted it in the presence of 9 parties. In 2019-2020, I would talk about conducting caste census everywhere, from assemblies to public meetings… He is taking fake credit, what can I do? Let it be,” the Bihar CM said while speaking to reporters on Wednesday. Speaking at a rally in Purnea district, where his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ entered on Tuesday, Gandhi said that Nitish Kumar’s recent return to the BJP-led NDA was prompted by the fact that he did not want to carry out a caste survey. He further claimed that the caste survey was conducted under pressure from the Mahagathbandhan partners and the BJP “provided Nitish with a way out”.
“Hum aapko samjhaate hain Nitishji kahan fanse (I will explain to you how Nitishji got trapped). We told him that you have to do a caste survey, we can’t let you off on that. He was forced to do the caste survey. Then he came under pressure from the other side because the BJP did not want a caste count. Nitishji beech mein fans gaye (Nitishji got caught in the middle). Then the BJP showed him a way and he went there. This (a caste census) is our responsibility, and we will implement it,” Gandhi had said.
“We don’t need Nitish Kumar”, Gandhi added.
Soon after the rally, Gandhi wrote in a post on X, “We had clearly told Nitish ji that you will have to conduct caste census, we will not give you any relaxation on this. Under pressure, Nitish ji has compromised with the BJP which was basically against ‘social justice’. They got scared, but we are not going to get scared. We will keep doing ‘X-Ray of the country’ because without this the problems cannot be treated properly. “
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned from his post on Sunday, bringing the Mahagathbandhan government to an end.
He took the CM’s oath for a a record 9th time after forming a new government in alliance with the BJP.
The Congress had shared power with Kumar’s JD(U) in Bihar till he did a volte-face.
