A Jharkhand-based outfit espousing the cause of Other Backward Classes (OBC) will campaign against the BJP in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh in the run-up to the Assembly polls in both states in 2022 over the Union government’s affidavit in the Supreme Court ruling out a caste census.

The OBC Arakshan Manch leaders of Jharkhand have decided to send teams to important constituencies having a sizeable population of OBCs in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh by the end of 2021 and make people understand the “real intention” of the BJP-led central government.

“We read about the central government’s affidavit (filed by the ministry of social justice and empowerment) in the Supreme Court on Thursday in which it has ruled out ‘caste census in 2021’ with a plea that a caste census of the backward classes is administratively difficult and cumbersome. This shows the real intention of the BJP leaders towards the OBCs. Now we would do our best to expose this before OBC people in both Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh prior to the Assembly polls scheduled in early 2022,” said Kailash Yadav, central president of the Manch based in Ranchi.

Yadav said that nearly 70 per cent of the BJP legislators in both Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are OBCs.

“Surprisingly, they (legislators) too are silent on the issue. It seems they have sacrificed the interest of their communities for their personal benefit. We have over 200 members in our Manch and all have been entrusted to speak to like-minded organisations, social outfits and even individual leaders who can raise voices for the OBC cause in their respective constituencies. We will be informing them about the anti-OBC nature of BJP leaders at the Centre and ensure that this has an impact in the upcoming Assembly polls,” said Yadav.

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that a caste census “would not be feasible” and that “exclusion of information regarding any other caste”, apart from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, “from the purview of the census is a conscious policy decision”.

The Manch leaders, however, welcomed Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren’s efforts for inclusion of OBCs in the 2021 census.

“The Bihar chief minister did his part in apprising through an all-party delegation to none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the caste census. We are happy that despite not being allowed to meet the Prime Minister, the Jharkhand chief minister will be leading an all-party delegation to meet Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday about the caste census. We would like the Jharkhand chief minister to now pass a resolution in the Assembly and conduct a caste census in the state on its own and ensure reservation for OBCs in jobs,” Yadav said.

Soren will meet Shah in Delhi on Sunday at 4pm, along with state BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Deepak Prakash, state Congress president Rajesh Thakur, cabinet minister Alamgir Alam, Ajsu MLA Sudesh Mahato, cabinet minister Satyanand Bhokta (RJD), Vinod Singh (CPI-ML), Bhuvneshwar Mahato (CPI), Suresh Munda (CPM), Arup Chatterjee (Marxist Coordination Centre) and Kamlesh Singh (NCP) on the caste census and the inclusion of a separate Sarna religion code in the 2021 census.

Soren, chief secretary Sukhdev Singh and director-general of police Niraj Sinha will also attend a meeting with Shah earlier on Sunday on Left-wing extremism scenario along with other rebel-hit states.