NEW DELHI: With an eye on the assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, which are to be held along with the Lok Sabha polls next year, former CM and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday came out in support of “caste census”, saying it is essential to track and eradicate poverty.
Taking a turn from his usual stand against freebies, Naidu also hinted at his party offering welfare schemes that he said will eventually “create wealth”.
TDP will also contest some of the 119 assembly seats in Telangana where the party has limited presence. The party has set up a panel to identify the constituencies where it can put up candidates.
Asked about his views on caste census, Naidu told the media here on Tuesday that it was necessary to identify families that are economically backward and to be able to balance wealth distribution.
“Today with digitisation, everything can be tracked, then why not track poverty… for that caste census is needed to devise strategy to eradicate poverty. SCs, STs, OBCs and even some among the upper castes are poor… every family can be addressed to ensure that they are lifted out of poverty,” Naidu said.
Naidu’s support for caste census comes at a time when a similar exercise in Bihar has created political hackles with the issue landing up in the Supreme Court after the Patna HC refused to stay.