Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) leader Prashant Kishor lashed out at Rahul Gandhi on Sunday for terming the caste-based survey conducted by the Bihar government as “fake”.

Kishor also pointed out that the survey was done by the then Mahagathbandhan government, of which the Congress was also a part.

Rahul had termed the caste-based survey as a sham while speaking at a conference on the Constitution in Patna on Saturday, and had promised that the Congress would conduct a caste census after coming to power at the Centre.

“There was the Congress government — the Mahagathbandhan government — in Bihar when the caste-based survey was conducted. Those who brief Rahul did not tell him this. He will also have to take the responsibility if he is telling that the survey was fake,” Kishor said.

“If injustices or atrocities are being committed against the Dalits in Bihar or on the people of Bihar elsewhere, then the Congress will also have to shoulder its responsibility because its government ruled the state for around 40 years, either on its own or with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad during the ‘jungle raj’ days,”Kishor added.

The JSP leader was speaking before flagging a motorcycle rally led by party colleague and former Assam-cadre IPS officer Anand Mishra, who resigned from his job allegedly at the behest of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Mishra was promised a Lok Sabha ticket from Buxar by the BJP, but had to contest as an independent candidate after it did not materialise and the saffron party lefthim in a lurch.

The bike rally aims at lending voive against the injustice and atrocities on the youths of Bihar. Total 100 bikers will travel around 20,000 kilometers in Bihar.

Talking further on the occasion, Kishor asserted that the Congress did not do anything worthwhile for Bihar even when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was at the Centre for 10 years, prior to the advent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Taking potshots at Rahul, who is the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the JSP leader said: “If he can apologise for the Sikh riots, he should do the same for the atrocities on the people of Bihar during the ‘jungle raj’ when the RJD government functioned with the support of the Congress.”

Kishor added that the state has become like a milch cow for politicians, who eye its 40 Lok Sabha seats to form the government at the Centre, while the people continue to live in poor condition.

A few years back, Kishor had lent his services as a poll consultant to the Congress in various states.