Congress: With Nitish in NDA, does Modi still find caste survey divisive?

The Congress on Wednesday (November 13) launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on issues related to Bihar and sought to know if he still thought that a caste census was divisive.

Ahead of Modi’s engagements in Bihar, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed four questions to him including on the long delay in opening an AIIMS at Darbhanga and on the promised airports at Purnea, Muzaffarpur, and Bhagalpur.

Bihar caste survey

He said when the Nitish Kumar government, under pressure from the Congress and RJD, released the Bihar caste census data in October 2023, Modi said it would divide the country “in the name of caste”.

Also read: From social issue, caste census turns into electoral-political issue for BJP

After shaking hands with Nitish, what does the prime minister think about the Bihar caste-based survey, Ramesh asked on X.

"Will he take it forward in the decadal census that was supposed to be held in 2021 but looks likely to be conduced soon? And will he take decisive steps to remove the arbitrary and artificial 50 per cent ceiling on reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCMs?"

The promised AIIMS

The Congress leader said an AIIMS at Darbhanga was announced by then finance minister Arun Jaitley in 2015. But it took nine years for work to even begin.

It appears the delay was partly due to the Centre’s insistence on seeking political credit for it and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's moves to ensure he benefitted from it, Ramesh alleged.

Ramesh also wanted to know why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had neglected Maithili language.

Maithili language

He said in the past 20 years, the BJP had done nothing to develop, protect, or promote the Maithili although it is a scheduled language and included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

"The BJP, in the 10 years in power in the Centre and 13 years in power in Bihar, has…refused to make the language the medium of instruction in primary schools and the state's Maithili Academy has turned into a ghost organisation, with no funds, no chairman, no staff and no publications for years," Ramesh said.

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Airports in Bihar

He also asked about the promised airports for Muzaffarpur, Purnea and Bhagalpur.

"The non-biological PM promised an airport in Purnia on 18th August, 2015. Six years and three Nitish Kumar U-turns later, his government is yet to fulfil the promise. In a 2019 rally, Modi promised to open Patahi Airport in Muzaffarpur. In 2023, Amit Shah also pledged to kickstart operations at the Patahi airport while the BJP promised a fully operational airport by Diwali 2023," he said.

Ramesh questions delay

However, a Central team in March this year found that the land plot had broken boundary walls and buffaloes roam the runway, Ramesh said.

"What on earth has the government been doing for 10 years? Muzaffarpur joins Purnia and Bhagalpur as cities that need and deserve airports but under the Bharatiya Jumla Party, all they get is broken promises," he said.