If voted to power, Cong will release caste census, says Siddaramaiah

Terming the BJP as “anti-reservation”, Karnataka Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday (October 4) said that he will release the caste census report if his party is voted to power in the 2023 assembly elections.

He said that the census report was crucial for policymaking for various castes, and said that the last such census was carried out in 1931.

“Whenever the issue of reservation was taken up by the courts, it used to question us about the documents that reflected the population of various castes in the state. It is for this a socio-economic and educational census was commissioned during my tenure as CM,” he said.

Also read: Moily: Let data dictate policies; caste census should be decadal exercise

He said the census will help governments to formulate welfare programmes for different communities based on their population. “The report was not complete when I was CM, but is ready now. However, the current administration does not appear to be keen to accept the report. We will accept the report if we return to power,” he told a gathering of Ganiga community.

The Ganigas, who were traditionally engaged in oil extraction, are part of the OBC.

Siddaramaiah also criticised BJP leader Rama Jois for challenging the reservation to backward classes and women in the Supreme Court through a petition, which the court struck down.

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar said that Congress has ensured representation and leadership to all communities, unlike the BJP and JD(S) which focussed on Lingayats and Vokkaligas.