'F-word' strategy? What drove Rahul to dub Bihar’s caste survey as fake

Rather uncharacteristic of him, but Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has inadvertently ended up terming Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s state-wide caste census a “fake”.

And, ever since Rahul made the unseemly remark in Patna on Saturday (January 18) during a talk on the need to safeguard the Constitution, political circles are agog, but virtually at a loss to make out the idea and intent behind the cryptic remark.

Also read: RJD could enjoy edge even as Nitish, Tejashwi bicker over caste survey

Far reaching implications

Cryptic because Rahul did not elaborate on the single word, though this may have far reaching consequences for the Congress and its partners in Bihar’s INDIA bloc.

The Congress, in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left parties, now occupies Opposition benches in the state Assembly. Most likely, these parties will go together to try their luck again when Bihar goes to polls to elect a new Assembly later this year.

Seen in the backdrop that the Congress was part of Bihar’s ruling Mahagathbandhan or mega alliance led by Nitish Kumar when the caste census was held in the state in 2022, Rahul’s remark looks all the more strange.

It was only later that Nitish changed his mind and walked out of the alliance to join the BJP-backed NDA in the Bihar Assembly, and later in Parliament, too. In both the cases Nitish kept the Chief Minister’s post with him as the BJP allowed him to do so.

NDA’s silence

When Nitish led the JD(U)'s 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign as a part of NDA, he never mentioned the caste survey as his accomplishment. This was in keeping with the BJP's silence or reservations over caste census.

The silence thus started continues on the part of both the BJP and JD(U) vis-à-vis or in sharp contrast to the Opposition’s growing demand for a countrywide caste census.

Also read: Nitish’s caste census: Major game-changer in Indian politics

Now, Rahul has suddenly called Bihar’s caste census “fake”, confounding politicos as well as analysts. There has been no immediate response from either the JD(U) or the BJP to Rahul’s salvo.

There is no clear answer as to why Rahul made the remark at a time when Nitish — known for his intermittent somersaults — is being watched for possibly another round of fence-hopping from the NDA to INDIA.

Another volte face?

The possibility of Nitish changing sides once again looked not as faint as before. It is so since Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited known pro-Modi and pro-BJP JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha’s New Delhi residence on Saturday, January 18, to partake of some of the Bihari delicacies of the season before leaving for Andhra Pradesh to keep an official engagement billed for Sunday.

In Andhra, Shah is also expected to meet Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on the sidelines of the official event.

But Shah’s rendezvous with Jha in Delhi somehow coincided with that of Rahul and Lalu Prasad in Patna. In between, Rahul made the rather bizarre remark on Bihar’s caste survey.

Bait for Nitish

Though so far nobody is willing to offer any plausible explanation behind Rahul’s unthinkable though vexed move, the most likely motive on his part seems to be to entice Nitish to defend Bihar’s caste survey, which will show the divergence in his and BJP’s stand on this. It possibly could distance the two alliance partners now ruling Bihar.

In any case, the caste census in Bihar was Nitish’s brainchild, for which his government once fought even court cases.

Also read: Tejashwi rejects charge that caste survey data was manipulated to suit RJD

So, if he foregoes or ignores the charge made by Rahul and continues to be silent about this, the INDIA bloc would get a chance to go after him and possibly mount a subsequent charge of his giving up on caste census under the BJP’s pressure and tactics.

Keep the pot boiling

The idea behind Rahul’s dismissive remark towards Bihar’s caste census seems to be to keep the pot boiling as Bihar hurtles to Assembly elections.

But, in the meantime, the NDA may hit back by hammering on the fact that the Congress was a part of Nitish’s alliance and thus concurred with him when the Bihar caste survey took place.

This may have major consequences on the electoral outcome in Bihar.

Update: The ruling NDA in Bihar on Sunday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for terming as “fake” the caste survey conducted by Nitish Kumar government in the state. Reacting to the statement, state minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary of the JD(U) reminded Rahul that “his party had been supporting the caste survey all through.” He said, “The government has also been willing to set right anomalies if these were pointed out with tangible evidence. In such a backdrop, the comment by Rahul is just another example of his propensity to speak things that sound ridiculous.”