Caste census pot keeps boiling in Karnataka

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: The aftermath of the disclosure of the caste census report in Bihar continued to be felt in Karnataka as Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said that the State government would make its stand on the Kantharaju Commission clear soon.

The comments come in the backdrop of Congress MLC BK Hariprasad and Minister for Food and Civil Supplies KH Muniyappa on Tuesday said that the Kantharaju Commission report should be made public.

CM Siddaramaiah had replied that the Backward Class (BC) commission hadn’t submitted the report to him yet.

“Our gover nment had asked the Kantharaju Commission report to be prepared. Our party has expressed its stand on this. Our party will take a certain stand at the national level and we will abide by it. Some people are expressing their wishes and objections. We will reach a stand soon enough,” Shivakumar said.

The Kantharaju Commission is a socio-economic survey of Karnataka. It had been constituted in April 2015 under then Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission (KSBCC) Chairperson H Kantharaj who then prepared the report at a cost of Rs 162 crore and submitted it in the same year.

Alleged leaks from the Kantharaju Commission report seem to suggest that the two dominant communities in the state – Lingayats and Vokkaligas – were outnumbered by Dalits and Muslims, both communities with fewer resources and political heft.

However, Dalits do have the advantage of having 36 reserved seats in the 224 Assembly constituencies. This has led to many Lingayats and Vokkaligas across party lines to oppose the disclosure and implementation of the report.

Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga, has denied reports that he wrote to CM Siddaramaiah to not accept the Kantharaju Commission report.