Why oppose caste census report before submission? Siddu asks Vokkaliga body

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that he had asked the Rajya Vokkaliagara Sangha why they were opposing the caste census even before it was submitted.

The disclosure comes a day after the Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha delegation submitted a request that the Karnataka's SocioEconomic and Education Survey, otherwise known as the Kantharaju Commission, not be accepted.

Making things awkward is the fact that Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga, is a signatory to a memorandum submitted to him, requesting to reject it along with the data.

This is in stark contrast with Congress’ national leaders endorsing Bihar’s recent caste census and even backing a pan-India exercise along the same lines.

Other Vokkaliga leaders like former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, former Chief Ministers S M Krishna, D V Sadananda Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje, Leader of Opposition (LOP) R Ashoka, are among several lawmakers from both BJP and JD(S) who have signed the memorandum.

“I also told them (Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha), without seeing the report, even before the report is submitted, why are you opposing?” Siddaramaiah told mediapersons on Wednesday.

“The report has not yet been submitted, it has not yet come, without even seeing the report some people are opposing it. It has not come to our hands yet, once it comes we will see. Once it is given, it will be discussed in the Cabinet,” he added.

Two communities oppose move The issue is that there has been stiff opposition by the two politically dominant communities in the state – Lingayats and Vokkaligas – against its acceptance.

There are also indications about a delay in the submission of the survey report by Karnataka State Permanent Backward Classes Commission (KSPBCC), with the State government extending the tenure of its current Chairman, K Jayaprakash Hegde by a couple of months, until the submission of the report, originally due in November.

On November 2, Vokkaligara Sangha leaders at a meeting passed a resolution urging the government to “reject” the caste census. It was also attended by Shivakumar and prominent seers from the community recently.

The other dominant community in the state – Lingayats – led by All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, which is the apex body of Veerashaiva-Lingayats, has also expressed disapproval about the survey calling it “unscientific” and demanded conduct of a fresh survey back on November 9.

Veteran Congress leader and MLA Shamanuru Shivashankarappa is the chief of the Mahasabha. The then Siddaramaiahled Congress government (2013-2018) in 2015 had commissioned the survey at an estimated cost of Rs 162 crore in the state.

The st ate Backwa rd Classes Commission under its then chairperson H Kantharaj was tasked with preparing a caste census report. It was completed in 2018, towards the end of Siddaramaiah's first tenure as Chief Minister.

Work sheet row debated Meanwhile, citing Backward Classes commission's Chairman K Jayaprakash Hegde's October 2021 letter to the government about the survey's original “work-sheet” copy missing, the opposition BJP targeted the Siddaramaiah government.

BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal on X (previously Twitter) said: “The government, led by Honourable Siddaramaiah, is orchestrating this spectacle to deceive diligent, taxpaying citizens and gain political advantage in anticipation of the upcoming parliamentary elections. Their actions appear to be motivated more by a desire to win favor with voters than a genuine commitment to social justice.”

However, the commission's Chairman Hegde clarified that the survey data is “100 per cent intact” and it is signed by the then Chairman (Kantharaj), members and undersecretary, and it is uploaded in the system and it is safe.

“What I have said in my letter is that the original copy of the survey's worksheet that the previous commission had prepared is not there. I have never said the data is missing,” he said, adding that the current commission has now finalised the report based on the data, and it is getting ready for submission.

Stating that he was not aware of the original work-sheet copy missing, Siddaramaiah said Hegde had met him earlier and said that his term ends in November and requested to extend his term in case there is one or two months delay in submitting the report.

According to some analysts, successive governments have been shying away from releasing it as the findings of the survey are allegedly contrary to the “traditional perception” of the numerical strength of various castes in Karnataka,