Religious census in times of polls: Will it stir the communal pot in Bihar?

As the 2011 data on religious census was released here, political battlelines seemed to be getting sharper in poll-bound Bihar.

There is a subdued anticipation in the BJP that the data on religious census, released just ahead of elections in Bihar, would give it an advantage in the state.

While the rival JD (U)- RJD camp, which is counting on consolidation of the minority vote in its favour, would be hoping to gain from the increase in Muslim population, the BJP is likely to bank on counter-polarisation. The Muslims have grown by around 28 per cent and the Hindus by 24 per cent in the state.

Though sources in the BJP said the party would refrain from openly making the increase in Muslim population in the state an election plank, they admitted that the apprehensions of the majority community could help the BJP. The Hindus may keep aside their caste affiliations and vote for the BJP in the state, where the population of Hindus is around 17 per cent, they said.

In Patna, chief minister Nitish Kumar described the release of religious census as a routine exercise.

But, the CPM dubbed the timing of the release of the data as a move to gain political mileage in Bihar. "They have done so keeping Bihar polls in mind. They want to whip up communal polarisation," CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said.

In the Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP swept the state in the Modi wave winning 31 of the 40 constituencies, it lost eight seats, covering 50 of the 243 assembly segments, where the concentration of Muslims was high. Several of these fall in the Seemanchal region, which has a high concentration of pockets with low literacy and development. In four districts of the region -- Kishanganj, Araria, Purnia and Katihar -- the Muslim population is over 40 per cent.