Bihar's caste census is the Queen's Gambit of INDIA bloc against BJP-led NDA for 2024 Lok Sabha Polls

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Bihar Caste Census on Gandhi Jayanti, also months ahead of the crucial assembly polls to be held in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh. Not to forget the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

Amid opposition from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s of the caste-based census, either on a state level or the national level, Nitish Kumar's decision to publish the survey may have been the checkmate of the Opposition INDIA bloc towards NDA ahead of the 2024 polls. The caste-based survey was ordered last year after the Narendra Modi government at the Centre made it clear that it would not be able to undertake a headcount of castes other than SCs and STs as part of the census.

The last time, a headcount of all castes was undertaken, was way back in 1931. Those calling for a fresh caste survey insist that a new estimate was required mainly for the weaker sections of the society which, with improved life expectancy in the post-independence era, must have seen a rise in their proportion of the population.

Notably, the caste-based census was favored by both BJP and Congress when they were in opposition but rejected or never published when either came to power. The last time a wave of caste politics was able to challenge the BJP brand's Hindu polarisation was when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Chief Minister of Bihar.

Championing himself as the leader of the OBCs, Lalu Yadav had even stopped the chariot of Lal Krishna Advani that was headed for Ayodhya, winning the hearts of the Muslim residents of the state. Will the caste-based census from Bihar be the Perseus' Sword, Harpe, against BJP's attempt at the 'perfect' concocted run towards a third consecutive term in Central office, but also the