Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad on Tuesday slammed the RSS and the BJP over a caste census and asserted that he would force them to conduct it.

“We will make the RSS-BJP people grab their ears, do sit-ups and conduct a caste census. They do not have the capability and power to refuse it. We will force them so much that they will have to do it. The time has come for the Dalits, backward classes and tribals to show their unity,” Lalu said.

The statement of the RJD chief, who returned from Singapore on Monday evening after undergoing a medical check-up there, came in the context of the RSS indicating a softening of its stand on the caste census.

Earlier this week, the RSS said it was not opposed to a caste census if it was undertaken for the welfare of the downtrodden, instead of being used for electoral advantage. It also pointed out that the sub-classification of the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) should not be undertaken without a consensus among them.

While the RSS’s stand could pave the way for a caste census by the BJP-led government at the Centre and take the wind out of the Opposition’s sails, Lalu’s words could be construed as an attempt to salvage the situation in favour of his party which, along with the Congress and the other allies, was at the forefront of demanding a caste count in the country.

The Bihar government conducted a caste-based survey in 2023 in which over 200 castes were counted in the state.