In a major development, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday accepted the controversial Socio-Economic and Educational Survey Report, also known as the caste census report.
The Congress-led government’s move is likely to trigger a controversy in the state ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Chairman of Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, K. Jayaprakash Hegde, submitted the report to CM Siddaramaiah at his office in Vidhana Soudha on Thursday in the presence of Minister for Kannada and Culture, Shivaraj Tangadagi.
Siddaramaiah said the caste census report will now be placed before the Cabinet for discussions.
He, however, refused to divulge any further information on the report.
The move to accept the report came amid strong opposition by the influential Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities. The associations of both these communities have declared that they would reject the report, dubbing it as “unscientific”.
Former Chief Minister and JD-S state President H.D. Kumaraswamy had even challenged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that if he had the capacity, he should accept the caste report prepared by Kantharaj.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar was one of the signatories in the memorandum submitted to the state government urging not to accept that report.