Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Monday termed Union home minister Amit Shah’s allegations of fudging figures in the caste-based survey as “baseless” and asked whether the Yadavs did not come under the Other Backward Castes (OBC).

He also asserted that the BJP government at the Centre should resign to comply with the people’s wish.

“He (Shah) is in shock and has alleged baseless things. He first asserted that the numbers of the Extremely Backward Caste (EBC) and the OBC have been decreased. Then he said that the numbers of the Yadavs have been increased. Are the Yadavs not a part of OBC? They were 11 per cent in 1931 when Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha were together. It has become over 14 per cent in such a long time and after the separation of states,” Tejashwi said.

The RJD leader pointed out that the numbers of minority communities have always been counted (in the censuses) and people have known their population.

“On what basis is he (Shah) alleging that the figures have been increased or decreased? Is he just making assumptions? We have the scientific data. He should tell what data he has got,” Tejashwi added.

Shah, while addressing a rally in Muzaffarpur on Sunday, had alleged that the Nitish Kumar-led government had increased the population of the Yadavs and the Muslims in the caste-based survey report under pressure from RJD chief Lalu Prasad and as a part of appeasement politics. He had called it an injustice to the EBC and OBC people.

The survey figures released last month pegged Bihar’s population at 13.07 crore of which 36.02 per cent were EBC, 27.13 per cent OBC, 19.65 per cent Scheduled Castes (SC), 15.52 per cent general category castes and 1.68 per cent Scheduled Tribes (ST).

The report also revealed that the Hindus were 81.99 per cent, Muslims 17.70 per cent while other religions comprised the rest. The Yadavs are 14.3 per cent of the population.

Tejashwi said that if they wanted to tamper with the figures, Nitish Kumar, who hails from the Kurmi caste, would have increased its numbers.

“Bihar’s step to conduct caste survey is now being demanded in other states and in the entire country,” Tejashwi added.

Asked about the Opposition parties demanding the resignation of the Bihar government over corruption and deteriorating law and order, the RJD leader said: “They keep uttering the word ‘resign’ every day. Why should we resign? There are job opportunities for lakhs of people. The education and health systems are improving. The central government should resign to comply with people’s wish.”