BJP criticizes Piketty's role in Telangana caste survey
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has criticized the Telangana government's decision to include French economist Thomas Piketty in a committee analyzing data from a recent caste survey. BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi raised concerns about sharing sensitive data with a foreign national. The committee was formed to address allegations that certain communities were undercounted in the caste survey. It includes notable members such as retired Supreme Court judge Sudarshan Reddy and economist Jean Drèze, alongside Piketty. The caste survey revealed that backward classes make up 56.33% of Telangana's population, with the BJP opposing the inclusion of Muslims in this category. The party argues that the government's approach to caste classification needs further examination.