OBCs to Siddu govt: Disclose caste census report or face stir

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: In a fresh headache for the state government, groups representing the interests of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Dalits and tribals are threatening to launch protests over nondisclosure of the Kantharaju Commission report.

Two of the organisations, the Karnataka State Backward Castes Federation (KSBCF) and the Karnataka Marginalised Communities Federation (KMCF) demanded the report be tabled for discussion before the two Houses for discussion.

The groups also alleged that the Congress government appeared to have forgotten OBCs, Dalits and tribals after coming to power.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that he would receive the Kantharaju Commission this month or the next. The Commission was constituted in April 2015 during Siddaramaiah’s first term under Backward Classes Commission Chairperson H Kantharaj.

Alleged leaks from the report seem to suggest that the two most politically dominant communities in the state – Lingayats and Vokkaligas – are now outnumbered by Dalits and Muslims, both communities with fewer resources and political heft.

This has led many Lingayats and Vokkaligas across party lines opposing the disclosure and implementation of the report, which may recommend increasing the quota share of the more populous groups at the expense of the less populous ones.