Shivakumar’s clarification to the media queries at Belagavi came in the wake of Kharge’s displeasure with attempts to delay placing Karnataka’s caste census report in public domain.
“All upper castes are united on this,” the AICC president said in Rajya Sabha on Monday after BJP members quizzed him about the stiff resistance the ruling Congress was facing in Karnataka on making the report public. BJP member Sushil Kumar Modi pointed to Shivakumar signing a petition opposing making contents of the report public.
Kharge said not just Shivakumar, but the BJP too was opposed to the report as all upper castes stood together on the subject in response to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi’s comments about the resistance the Congress faced from own MLAs as well as from the Veerashaiva Mahasabha.
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, in an elaborate clarification, said many of his own party MLAs had objected to the way the Commission carried out the caste census exercise. The survey teams had not visited all houses.
“Every community including minorities and SC/STs claim rights and seek grants proportionate to the size of their population. We have full faith in the socio-economic survey, and I remain committed to the Congress stand that every community should get social justice. I am an OBC leader myself, and I must look at the interests of all communities as President of the KPCC,” Shivakumar said.Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has delayed accepting the report from the Permanent Backward Classes Commission as he has come under pressure from both Veerashaiva Mahasabha and Vokkaligara Sangha as well as many Congress MLAs against its acceptance.The signatories to the Sangha’s petition include Shivakumar and Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy as well as Congress MLAs. Veerashaiva-Lingayats are Karnataka’s largest community followed by Vokkaligas, and these caste groups are worried of losing out on opportunities and political clout if the report were to reset the pecking order of caste groups.
AICC leader Rahul Gandhi has announced that the party governments in states must conduct caste census to determine the backwardness of communities, and they would conduct a nation-wide survey if the party came to power at the Centre.
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