Chirag rejects Bihar survey figures, says population numbers manipulated to benefit one caste

There are many 'small' castes in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes whose actual numbers have not been shown, Paswan alleged.

Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan on Tuesday rejected the caste survey figures shared by the Bihar government as a political conspiracy, claiming they have inflated population of some castes while reducing numbers of some others, including Paswans.

'Political conspiracy is clearly visible in the caste census data released by the Bihar government. Many statistics have been inflated for the political benefit of one caste while attempts have been made to project less than actual population of many castes,' the Lok Sabha member said on X.

There are many 'small' castes in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes whose actual numbers have not been shown, he alleged, saying a similar treatment has been meted out to several Other Backward Communities.

The state government has shared these data as per its whims to draw political advantage and no transparency was maintained in the exercise, Paswan claimed.

The information on who belongs to which caste was not sought from even a common Bihari let alone political workers, he claimed.

There is a need to correct these data, he said. There are many small castes that have not figured in the survey and it is injustice to them, he said.

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Monday released findings of its much-awaited caste survey months ahead of the 2024 Parliamentary elections, which revealed that OBCs and EBCs constitute a whopping 63 per cent of the state's total population.