The fault lines within the Karnataka Congress government are out in the open with deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar along with a few ministers and MLAs putting their signatures on a letter sent by Vokkaliga Sangha against the caste census report prepared by the Kantharaj Committee. The Vokkaliga organisation had submitted a request to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to reject the caste census report.

On Tuesday, CM Siddaramaiah said he's committed to his decision to do justice to the disadvantaged communities by accepting the report of the Socio-Economic and Education Survey, popularly known as the "caste census".

In a post on ‘X’, formerly Twitter, the CM wrote, “I fully agree with our proud leader Rahul Gandhi's stand. I feel that the country's independence will be meaningful only when the caste census is conducted across the country and based on its report, "equal share for all—equal rights for all" is ensured."

"My decision to do justice to the disadvantaged communities, by accepting the report of the Economic, Social and Educational Survey conducted by our previous government, is unwavering," he said while commenting on Gandhi's statement regarding conducting caste census at the national level if the Congress forms the government at the Centre.

ನಮ್ಮ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯ ನಾಯಕರಾದ ರಾಹುಲ್ ಗಾಂಧಿಯವರ ನಿಲುವಿಗೆ ನನ್ನ ಪೂರ್ಣ ಸಹಮತವಿದೆ. ದೇಶಾದ್ಯಂತ ಜಾತಿಗಣತಿ ನಡೆದು, ಅದರ ವರದಿಯ ಆಧಾರದ ಮೇಲೆ "ಸರ್ವರಿಗೂ ಸಮಪಾಲು - ಸರ್ವರಿಗೂ ಸಮಬಾಳು" ದಕ್ಕಿದಾಗಲೇ ದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ದೊರೆತ ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯ ಸಾರ್ಥಕವಾಗಲಿದೆ ಎಂಬುದು ನನ್ನ ಭಾವನೆ.

ನಮ್ಮ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಹಿಂದಿನ ಅವಧಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಸಿದ ಆರ್ಥಿಕ, ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಮತ್ತು… pic.twitter.com/OpqIQ5DRPL— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 21, 2023

At an election rally in Rajasthan’s Udaipur on Tuesday, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi described the caste census as an X-ray of the country and pledged that the party will undertake it both in the state and the centre, if voted to power.

Meanwhile, in Karnataka, pressure is mounting on the Siddaramaiah government to make the caste census survey’s findings public, weeks after the Bihar government released the findings of its caste survey.

Siddaramaiah has so far maintained that a decision will be taken once he receives the report, which is expected later this month.

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A Congress MLA said there's both pressure to release the report and opposition to that as well, and all leaders will sit together and arrive at a decision.

“There's a pressure that the report must be made public, few have opposed it and few want it to be released and a decision will be made, all the leaders together will take a decision. When the BJP was in power, there was pressure in them to do it but they didn't do it. Even I feel that releasing it is good, and I lend my support to it,” Vijayananda Kashappanavar, Congress MLA, said.

Karnataka caste survey: A background

In 2015, the then Siddaramaiah-led Congress government commissioned the social-economic and educational survey at an estimated cost of Rs170 crore in the state, the findings of which have not been made public yet.

The state Backward Classes Commission, under its then chairperson, H. Kantharaj was tasked with preparing a caste-based census report. However, there remains strong disapproval from two dominant communities: Lingayats and Vokkaligas.

The All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, which is the apex body of Veerashaiva-Lingayats, has expressed disapproval of the survey, calling it unscientific, and demanded a fresh survey.

ALSO READ | As Bihar, Centre spar over caste census, find out the difference between census and survey

The Vokkaliga leaders at a meeting, which was also attended by Deputy CM D K Shivakumar and prominent seers from the community recently, passed a resolution urging the government to "reject" the caste census.

On the other hand, federations representing Dalits, tribals, and other backward classes (OBC) have demanded that the findings of a caste census, kept under wraps, be made public.

—With inputs from PTI

First Published:Nov 22, 2023 3:05 PM IST