Bengaluru: The Karnataka BJP has launched a sharp critique against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the ruling Congress party following the Congress high command’s directive to re-enumerate caste data within the state. The move comes after concerns were raised about the accuracy and completeness of the existing caste survey, conducted a decade prior.
Sunil Kumar, Karnataka BJP General Secretary, demanded an apology from Siddaramaiah and the Congress party to the people of Karnataka, labeling the situation a “huge waste of taxpayer’s money.”
The Congress party stated that the decision to re-enumerate was made to address complaints from various communities who felt excluded from the original survey.
This decision was reached during a meeting in New Delhi involving key Congress figures such as President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and AICC General Secretaries K.C. Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala, alongside Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. The meeting took place at the Congress’s new headquarters.
Kumar criticized the rejection of the initial report, which reportedly cost Rs 150 crore to produce. He stated on ‘X’ that the Congress high command’s intervention highlighted the discrepancies that the BJP had consistently pointed out, accusing Siddaramaiah of “usual recklessness” in handling the sensitive issue.
Kumar further alleged that Siddaramaiah had misled the public for a decade, creating discontent among communities. He asserted that both Siddaramaiah and the Congress high command had hurt the sentiments of marginalized communities. Notably, dominant communities such as Vokkaligas and Veershaiva-Lingayats had previously voiced strong objections to the caste survey, deeming it “unscientific” and demanding its rejection in favor of a new, comprehensive survey.
The All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, welcomed the decision to re-enumerate, expressing its full cooperation if the state government conducts the survey properly, rectifying past errors and adopting new technologies.
The initial survey was commissioned in 2015 by the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government (2013-2018), with the report finally presented to the cabinet on April 11, 2024, after several delays and changes in leadership at the State Backward Classes Commission.
