Stating that the Janata Dal (Secular) would unconditionally support any honest effort by the government to uplift the oppressed sections of society, former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy urged Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to ‘stop bluffing’.
On January 30, he told mediapersons, “Why are you (Mr. Siddaramaiah) not accepting the H. Kanthraj Commission report (on socio economic survey, or caste census) if it was ready long back? Instead, you are accusing Basavaraj Bommai and me of not accepting the report. It has been nearly one year since you came to power. If you have the guts, accept the report. In fact, it is not Kanthraj’s report, but you got it written. Your own party leaders are stating that there are problems in the report.”
He accused the Chief Minister of organising a convention of oppressed classes and speaking about accepting the Kanthraj Commission report because Lok Sabha elections are approaching.
The issue of submission of caste census has come back to the political narrative as the tenure of K. Jayaprakash Hegde as Chairman of the Karnataka Permanent Commission for Backward Classes is to end on January 31. Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office indicated that Mr. Hedge has orally sought another extension, and that the request is likely to be accepted.
The two land-owning and politically powerful communities Vokkaligas and Lingayats have opposed the survey that was conducted in 2015.
