Rahul turned down resolution on caste census at I.N.D.I.A. bloc meetings on Mamata's pressure: Lalan

'Two meetings were held, but Rahul Gandhi had turned down our request under pressure from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,' claimed Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan, who was the JD(U) president when it was still part of I.N.D.I.A. bloc.

Patna: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had turned down JD(U)'s demand for a resolution on caste census at I.N.D.I.A. bloc meetings under pressure from West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan claimed on Sunday.

Singh was JD(U) president when the party was part of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc and used to accompany Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the coalition's meetings.

"Rahul Gandhi is simply shedding crocodile tears over the caste census issue... He is trying to confuse people. When the Bihar government conducted a caste-based survey in the state, we were part of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, and we kept asking him to pass a resolution on this in the coalition's meeting. Two meetings were held, but Rahul Gandhi had turned down our request under pressure from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," he claimed.

Singh made the claim in response to journalists asking him about Gandhi's recent statement on the issue.

"When Nitish Kumar got the caste survey done in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi never praised him for this," he added.

Addressing the "Samvidhan Samman Sammelan" in Prayagraj on Saturday, Gandhi had said, "90 per cent of people are sitting out of the system. They have skills, and knowledge but no connections (with the system). That is why we have raised the demand for a caste census."