Bengaluru, Jan 16 (IANS): Karnataka BJP said on Thursday that Siddaramaiah is using the caste census as a political weapon as the time has come for him to resign as the Chief Minister.
“I don’t think Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is serious about implementing the caste census. His intention to implement a caste census is a big question. It has become a political weapon in his hands. Whenever his seat is unsafe, he immediately ensures debate on the caste census report comes to the forefront. No one has asked for the caste census. Siddaramaiah is repeatedly deferring the presentation of the caste census report before the Cabinet,” said BJP state chief B.Y. Vijayendra while answering a question on deferring the presentation of the caste census report in the Cabinet.
He said that in 2014, Siddaramaiah (during his first tenure as the Chief Minister) ordered the Karnataka Socio-economic and Educational Census.
“A committee headed by then Backward Classes Commission H. Kantharaju did the survey at a cost of around Rs 169 crore. The report was ready by 2016, it was, however, put in cold storage by subsequent governments. The Congress and JD-S coalition government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy and the BJP government headed by B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai also kept the report pending,” he said.
He added that in 2020, the state's BJP government appointed Jayaprakash Hegde as the Commission chief but the report was not made public. Hegde submitted the final report to the Siddaramaiah government on February 29, 2024.
“The BJP and JD-S have claimed that the report is flawed and prepared at the behest of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The influential Vokkaliga and Lingayat community leaders have demanded a resurvey. It is alleged that the caste census survey is likely to be used as a tool to show the Muslim population on a higher side in the state,” he said.
He further alleged that according to his sources, Siddaramaiah’s time has come to resign.
“I was told that there was an internal understanding between Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar at the level of the high command. But, Siddaramaiah, desperately wants to continue as the Chief Minister. He is not in a mood to give away the post of CM to Shivakumar or any other leader,” he claimed.
He also claimed that the infighting in the Congress between the Chief Ministers and others has come out in the open. “Amid all this, the people are suffering as there is no development,” he claimed.
He said that a contractor from the Davanagere district committed suicide while the contractors from KEONICS have also written a letter to the President demanding mercy killing.
“This is the state of affairs in the state. The financial situation is deteriorating day after day. They are unable to pay the salaries of government employees. Now, contractors committing suicide for non-payment is unheard of, Vijayendra stated. I demand that the Chief Minister should take up the issue seriously and clear bills,” he said.