New Delhi: BJP leader Janak Ram, who was part of the 10-party delegation that met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to push for a caste-based census, on Monday likened Modi to the “guardian of a family” and said whatever decision he takes on the issue will be “acceptable” to everyone.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ram also took a swipe at rivals like the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav without naming them, saying many leaders advance their careers in the name of caste and community but later busy themselves in promoting their families.
Ram, a minister in the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar, evaded a direct reply on whether he backs the demand for a caste-based census and said Modi fully understands as to how the country’s all-round development can take place and has been working accordingly.
Yadav and representatives of several other parties were part of the Kumar-headed delegation that met the prime minister.
Though the BJP had earlier supported two resolutions passed by the Bihar assembly in support of the demand, the party leadership has so far not taken a categorical stand on the issue which has been lapped up by a number of regional parties, many of them its rivals in different states.
Ram, however, noted that the population of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes are counted regularly and added that Modi himself comes from the Other Backward Classes. For the first time the country has a prime minister who has put development ahead of issues like caste, he added.
“Everyone expressed their views and Modi heard them patiently like the guardian of a family… Whatever decision he takes will be acceptable to all,” the Dalit leader said.
People know that caste does not come in the way of development, and the country and the state want to come out of the web of family and dynastic rules, he said.
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