Bengaluru, April 13 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Railways and Jal Shakti, V. Somanna, said on Sunday that the implementation of the controversial caste census report could lead to significant confusion in Karnataka.
Speaking to the media in Bengaluru, Union Minister Somanna criticised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the caste census report.
Somanna alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is pushing for the implementation of the report merely to cling to power. “I am pained that CM Siddaramaiah can stoop to this level. If he goes ahead with implementing the caste census report, he will be remembered as a villain in history,” he stated.
“This caste census report appears to be a fabricated drama. BJP leaders will meet and collectively decide the future course of action on this matter,” he added.
He further claimed that 50 to 60 per cent of Congress leaders themselves believe the caste census report is inaccurate. “The survey was not conducted properly to collect reliable data, and the report lacks integrity,” Somanna opined.
He pointed out that the Chief Minister could have implemented the report much earlier. “Even though CM Siddaramaiah knows that the report is flawed, he is still trying to implement it. It will create confusion across the state,” he reiterated.
“I request CM Siddaramaiah to conduct a fresh survey. He can appoint whoever he wants and complete it within one and a half years. He still has three years left in his term,” Somanna demanded.
“I warn CM Siddaramaiah that implementing this report could prove to be a death sentence for his political career. His own people have conspired to bring him down,” Somanna alleged.
He also stressed that there is no such thing as an upper or lower class in society and urged against pitting one community against another.
Somanna concluded by saying that CM Siddaramaiah is well aware of the population of all communities. “I have worked with him as a minister for many years. I pity his current situation. Recently, he was summoned by the party high command and received instructions in New Delhi,” Somanna stated.
In 2014, Siddaramaiah (during his first tenure as the Chief Minister) ordered the Karnataka Socio-Economic and Educational Census.
A committee headed by the then Backward Classes Commission Chairman, H. Kantharaju, did the survey at a cost of around Rs 169 crore. The report was ready by 2016; it was, however, put in cold storage by subsequent governments.
The Congress and JD-S coalition government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy and the BJP government headed by B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai also kept the report pending.
In 2020, the Karnataka government, headed by the BJP, appointed Jayaprakash Hegde as the Commission chief, but the report was not made public. Hegde submitted the final report to the Siddaramaiah government on February 29, 2024.
Opposition parties, the BJP and JD-S, have opposed the implementation of the report. Communities such as the Lingayats and Vokkaligas have alleged that the report has done injustice to them in terms of their population representation.
The controversial caste census report submitted by the Backward Classes Commission to the Congress-led government in Karnataka has pegged the Muslim population in the state at 18.08 per cent and recommended 8 per cent reservation for the community, sources confirmed on Sunday.
Currently, the Muslims are getting a 4 per cent reservation in the state.
The caste census report was submitted to the state cabinet on Friday (April 10), and the state government is convening a special cabinet meeting on April 17 to decide on the report’s recommendations. However, no official statement has been issued to the media regarding the report’s contents. Nonetheless, details presented in the cabinet meeting have surfaced in the public domain.
Furthermore, sources confirmed that the caste census report recommends increasing the total reservation to more than 75 per cent in Karnataka. The survey estimates the population of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at 4.18 crore, Scheduled Castes (SCs) at 1.09 crore, and Scheduled Tribes (STs) at 42.81 lakh.
According to sources, the report indicates that OBC groups constitute about 70 per cent of the state’s population.
The Vokkaliga community is currently considered the second-largest population group in the state. The Vokkaliga population is recorded at 61.68 lakh. The census report lists the Lingayat community population at 66.35 lakh, comprising 11.09 per cent.
The Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities dominated the political scenario in the state. Both communities have expressed reservations about the report and dubbed it as flawed.
Union Minister of State Somanna hails from the Lingayat community.
–IANS
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