"Bihar govt eyeing elections ": SP leader Shifaiqur Rahman Barq on caste survey report

Sambhal (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 2 (ANI): Reacting to the caste survey report released by the Bihar government today, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shafiqur Rahman Barq said "they are eyeing" the general elections in 2024.
"What was the need for these figures at this time? They are eyeing the elections next year and doing these activities. The nation wants service, development, education, and a better Prime Minister. None of this is there. They should be asked if you are running the country, what have you done for its development..."? Barq asked while speaking to ANI in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. 
However, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party is a partner with the Janata Dal United (JDU) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) among others in the INDIA bloc, formed to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 general assembly polls. 
Earlier today, the Bihar government released caste survey data, with the figures that have ramifications for the Lok Sabha polls next year, showing that Other Backward Caste (OBC) and Extremely Backward Class (EBC) together account for 63 per cent of the state’s population.
The report of the caste-based survey conducted in Bihar was released at a press conference in the state capital.
“The extremely backward class is 36.01 per cent, the general category is 15.52 per cent and the Other Backward Caste (OBC) is 27 per cent," Vivek Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary said.
According to the data, Scheduled Castes make up 19.65 per cent and the Scheduled Tribes 1.68 per cent of the population of the state.
The data also said that the Hindus comprise 81.99 per cent of the population, Muslims 17.7 per cent, Christians 0.05 per cent, Sikhs 0.01 per cent, Buddhists 0.08 per cent and other religions 0.12 per cent.
The data said that Yadavs, the OBC group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs, is the largest and accounts for 14.27 per cent of the state’s population.
Kushwaha and Kurmi communities form 4.27 per cent and 2.87 per cent of the population, the caste survey said. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar belongs to the Kurmi community in the state.
The total population of Bihar is more than 13 crore.
Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar congratulated the entire team engaged in the work of caste-based enumeration stating that the survey not only revealed the castes but also gave information about the economic condition of everyone. (ANI)