Karnataka caste census report: Siddaramaiah to wait till five-state Assembly results
Influential Vokkaligas and Lingayats are against the survey and even his deputy DKS is not in favour
Even as conspiracy theories are rife over the missing copy of the original caste census report in Karnataka, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government seems to be in no hurry to release the survey.
If sources are to be believed, Siddaramaiah will take a call on the issue only after the results of the upcoming five-state assembly elections (in December). Sources say this is to assess how the caste census implementation used by the Congress as an electoral plank plays out in the polls in the five states.
Karnataka was the first state to announce a caste census in 2015 during Siddaramaiah's first term. Now Siddaramaiah, in his second term as CM, has been raking up the issue after the Bihar government went ahead and released its report. However, it is a contentious issue as Siddaramaiah faces opposition among his own party members when it comes to the caste census report.
Primarily, influential Vokkaligas and Lingayats are against it because they feel that the re-classification of castes may lessen their importance and they will be sidelined. Vokkaliga leaders, including deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar and other Lingayat leaders, are against caste census report. DKS even participated in a protest by Vokkaliga seers against the caste survey.
Thus pressure was building up, and Siddaramaiah will now take a call only after the results of Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh come out. He will analyse the impact of the Congress party's electoral promise to conduct caste surveys..
Extension of Hegde's term?
Meanwhile, the government is also contemplating extending the tenure of the chairman of Karnataka State Commission of Backward Classes, K Jayaprakash Hegde. According to sources, Hegde's first tenure had to end on November 26, 2023, and he sought an extension to complete the new Caste Census report, which was scheduled to be submitted to the government on November 24. His extension will be decided on Thursday (November 23) in the cabinet meeting, sources said.