Nitish Kumar's Big Move On Caste Census Lands Ally BJP In A Fix
NDTV
Bihar BJP leaders told reporters that "a guidance" has been sought from the party leadership in Delhi over the invite to them.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's invite for an all-party meeting on the caste census demand has plunged his ally BJP into an ocean of awkward.
The meeting has been tentatively scheduled on Friday, Nitish Kumar said yesterday.
Nitish Kumar's Deputy Tarkishor Prasad of the BJP told reporters that "a guidance" has been sought from the party leadership in Delhi over the Chief Minister's invite. In private, BJP leaders say Nitish Kumar has once again "laid a trap" and exposed the fault lines within the alliance and the party over the caste census.
Nitish Kumar's former Deputy and senior BJP leader, Sushil Modi, says the party never opposed a caste census and had even backed the resolution passed in the Bihar assembly. He also points out that state Minister Janak Ram of the BJP accompanied the all-party delegation led by Nitish Kumar, which met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.