Patna: The state govt found itself on the defensive in the Assembly on Friday when BJP MLA Vishal Prashant demanded that the Bhumihar community be included in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category, following the govt’s clarification that it had no plans to recognise the caste as “Bhumihar Brahmin” in official records.The issue surfaced during a calling attention motion raised by BJP MLA Jibesh Kumar. Responding on behalf of the government, deputy chief minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said there was no provision to record the caste as “Bhumihar Brahmin” and that the government had neither any proposal nor intention to change the existing nomenclature.While several Bhumihar legislators appeared dissatisfied with the government’s stand, Tarari MLA Vishal Prashant argued that the community was socially and economically backward and suggested that granting it ST status would be a more appropriate step.Jibesh Kumar said there was a discrepancy between older government records and current documents. He pointed out that state gazettes and historical records referred to the caste as “Bhumihar-Brahmin”, while caste certificates and current caste lists mentioned it only as “Bhumihar”, creating confusion in official documentation.He also cited representations submitted by social organisations along with copies of the 1931 Census report and revenue department land records that referred to the caste as “Bhumihar-Brahmin”, and sought to know when and why the nomenclature was changed.Yadav said the General Administration Department had sought the opinion of the Upper Caste Commission on Oct 10, 2025, following representations from various organisations. In its reply dated Dec 19, 2025, the commission said it had unanimously decided against renaming the caste and had made no recommendation to that effect.The deputy CM said all official records should refer to the caste simply as “Bhumihar” and directed that any use of “Bhumihar Brahmin” in violation of existing rules be corrected.