On the again foot over the alleged Mysuru City Growth Authority (MUDA) rip-off, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress authorities in Karnataka has raised the potential for making public the state caste census report, formally referred to as the Socioeconomic and Instructional Census. A Congress legislator has advised that the report ought to be made public even on the expense of the federal government itself.
On Monday, 30 legislators from Different Backward Courses (OBC) met Siddaramaiah to demand that the report be tabled within the subsequent Meeting session after which carried out.
With the refrain for making the report public gaining momentum, the Congress’ divided home has but once more been thrust into the highlight. Saying that the CM himself raised the problem in Raichur on Saturday, Congress MLC B Ok Hariprasad who attended the assembly on Monday mentioned the federal government ought to make the report public even when it threatens the federal government’s stability.
“In case you are cautious that the federal government might collapse if the report is accepted, let it occur … Not one of the different events have proven the desire to take it up. The duty of accepting the report falls on the Siddaramaiah authorities,” he mentioned.
On Saturday, Siddaramaiah mentioned, “The primary-of-its-kind survey was taken up in Karnataka and might be mentioned within the Cupboard assembly on October 18.”
A couple of different Congress leaders, together with House Minister G Parameshwara, have adopted a extra cautious strategy, saying the Cupboard will first focus on the matter after which “determine if the report might be tabled within the Meeting”. Karnataka PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi has referred to as for the report back to be tabled within the Home, saying, “A large dialogue on the problem will assist tackle any shortcomings.”
For Siddaramaiah, tabling the caste census report helps bolster the counter-narrative that by means of the MUDA case, the BJP and the JD(S) are trying to dislodge a CM like him who belongs to a Backward Class group. The CM can be believed to be eager to publicise the report as he aspires to a legacy equal to the state’s nice OBC chief and former Congress CM Devaraj Urs.
When the committee headed by Karnataka State Backward Class Fee Chairman Ok Jayprakash Hegde submitted the in February, it uncovered the divide within the Congress as Deputy CM D Ok Shivakumar who’s from the Vokkaliga group signed a petition towards it following opposition from the Vokkaligara Sangha and the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, which termed the caste survey “unscientific” and “inaccurate”.
If the social gathering leaders in favour of publicising the report push too exhausting on this, they’re more likely to antagonise each the Vokkaligas and the Lingayats, the 2 most dominant communities within the state. However sitting on the report might weaken Siddaramaiah’s place among the many teams that propelled him to energy for a second time period.
The most recent push for tabling the report has drawn criticism from Opposition events Janata Dal (Secular) and the BJP, which labelled it a “gimmick” by the federal government to divert consideration from its wrongdoings.
Whereas Union Minister and JD(S) chief H D Kumaraswamy referred to as the transfer a “drama”, state BJP chief B Y Vijayendra accused Siddaramaiah of taking part in an “emotional card” and emphasised {that a} part of Congress leaders had termed the report “unscientific”.
“The federal government has employed techniques to divert individuals’s consideration each time it has confronted grave allegations … Within the wake of the MUDA rip-off, they’re speaking in regards to the caste census to cover their misdeeds,” Kumaraswamy mentioned.
The caste census in Karnataka was first undertaken by a panel headed by H Kantharaj throughout Siddaramaiah’s first time period in 2014 at a price of Rs 169 crore and a report on it was submitted after many delays in 2018. The report was neither accepted nor made public.
