The State Permanent Backward Classes Commission has prepared the caste census or socio-economic survey report and is waiting for a signal for the CM to submit it. Lingayat-Veerashaivas are the politically influential caste group. They are said to have backed the Congress in the May 10 assembly polls helping it win a landslide. Vokkaligas, the second largest community, have already petitioned the CM urging him not to accept the report, and the signatories include Deputy CM DK Shivakumar and Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy, besides some Congress MLAs.
India News: Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar clarified his stance on the caste census, stating that he does not oppose it but favors a scientific socio-economi
MLC AH Vishwanath states that it is not right to oppose the caste census report without knowing its contents. He suggests that the state government accept the Kantharaj Commission report and discuss it in the state legislature. Vishwanath advises political leaders to speak responsibly within the framework of the Constitution.
The development comes within a week of the Vokkaligara Sangha, the umbrella body of Vokkaligas, giving a petition to the CM, urging him not to accept the survey, conducted by the Karnataka State Backward Class Commission. The signatories to this petition include Deputy CM DK Shivakumar and Agriculture Minister N Cheluvaraswamy as well as Congress MLAs.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has refused to accept the caste census report from Vokkaliga and Lingayat groups, despite disagreements among Congress ministers and MLAs. Siddaramaiah said the debate was meaningless and that the government would weigh on the report only after the State Backward Classes Commission formally submitted it.