The ruling Congress in Karnataka seems to be divided on the issue of caste census as Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday said he signed a petition urging Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to reject the caste census report, which is expected to be submitted soon.
While Mr. Siddaramaiah was keen on accepting the caste census report and implementing it to ensure equal opportunities to all, Ministers belonging to the dominant Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat communities have been apparently opposing it by saying that the census was not done scientifically.
Political leaders from the Vokkaliga community of the State wrote to Mr. Siddaramaiah, urging him to reject the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey, popularly known as the caste census, conducted during his first tenure as Chief Minister. The letter, signed by leaders from the Congress, the BJP, and the JD(S), claimed that the census was not scientifically conducted.
