BJP demands 'caste census' report be tabled in upcoming legislature session

Bengaluru, Jul 8 (PTI) Opposition BJP on Wednesday urged the Congress government in Karnataka to clarify its stand on the caste survey taken by the state and to table it in the upcoming legislature session. BJP State General Secretary and MLA V Sunil Kumar said that his party is ready to discuss the survey, for which more than Rs 450 crore of taxpayers' money was spent. "Separate time should be allotted during the Assembly session for discussion," he told reporters, adding that the BJP wants to know what the report contains. Just ahead of stepping down as Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah received the much-awaited Social and Educational Survey report in May from the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, headed by Madhusudan Naik. Questioning how the government could formulate budget programmes or provide benefits if it lacked reliable social and educational data about the state's population, the BJP leader accused the Congress government of making announcements but completely failing to implement them. Accusing former chief minister Siddaramaiah of accepting the Madhusudan Naik-headed commission's report in haste, he noted that Siddaramaiah never accepted the previous H Kantharaju commission's report as chief minister. Later, although the Jayaprakash Hegde-headed commission's report was brought before the Cabinet, some Ministers had objections to it, and the government avoided releasing it publicly after discussions. He alleged that, following instructions from Congress top leader Rahul Gandhi, the Hegde report was "thrown into the dustbin". He claimed that the present government would similarly "discard" the Madhusudan Naik report, and sarcastically remarked that Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's government would treat the Naik report as "solid waste for disposal". The state cabinet on June 12 last year decided to conduct a fresh social and educational survey, effectively rejecting the one done in 2015 at a cost of about Rs 165 crore, citing legal issues. Following this decision, the commission conducted a fresh survey under Madhusudan Naik's leadership in September-November last year. The cabinet's decision to conduct a fresh survey came after the Congress top brass -- including President Mallikarjun Kharge and leader Rahul Gandhi-- directed the state government to hold caste enumeration again in Karnataka to address the concerns of some communities who complained of being left out of the survey conducted 10 years ago. Objections were raised regarding the earlier survey by various sections of society, including influential Veerashaiva-Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities, and there were also strong voices against it from within the ruling Congress. Shivakumar, as the then Deputy CM, had also expressed certain reservations about the earlier report. The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government (2013-2018) first commissioned the survey in the state in 2015. The State Backward Classes Commission, under its then chairperson H Kantharaju, was tasked with preparing a caste census report. The survey work was completed in 2018 towards the end of Siddaramaiah's first tenure as chief minister, and the report was finalised by Kantharaju's successor K Jayaprakash Hegde in February 2024. Sunil Kumar alleged that the Congress came to power in the name of OBCs during elections but later ignored them and was doing injustice to backward classes. He alleged that the state government has kept the public in the dark regarding the Madhusudan Naik Commission's report. Noting that the Monsoon Session is expected to be held in August, the BJP MLA said that, at the very least, the government should announce its position on the caste census report then. He questioned why the report was accepted when Siddaramaiah was allegedly under pressure over his resignation. "If the government had no intention of revealing anything about the report, why did it accept it in such haste?" he asked, further questioning whether the report had truly been prepared by the Commission or elsewhere. If the government is genuinely committed to the Madhusudan Naik Commission report, it should allow a discussion on it. "People of Karnataka have the right to know what the report contains. According to him, the BJP has no concern if the report is made public. "BJP's objective is not to know the numerical strength of castes; the focus should be on understanding the state's social, economic, and educational conditions," he added. PTI KSU ADB