Thorny Reservation Issue Shows Differences Between BJP, Nitish Kumar

The Bihar Assembly election has yet another instance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his key ally in the polls, the BJP, differing on important policy points. On Thursday, as Mr Kumar addressed the issue of population-based reservation for jobs and education opportunities in the state, he said that while his government was in favour of such an initiative it could only be implemented with fresh census data. The statements by Mr Kumar were seen as an attempt to mobilise votes from marginalised communities.