BJP demands fresh caste census, plans to hold meeting today

Terming the caste census report ‘politically motivated’, the Opposition BJP has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to get a fresh survey done in a scientific and authentic manner. The party has also decided to hold a meeting of its leaders on Monday to discuss the implications of the report.

Terming the caste census report ‘politically motivated’, the Opposition BJP has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to get a fresh survey done in a scientific and authentic manner. The party has also decided to hold a meeting of its leaders on Monday to discuss the implications of the report. 

Announcing this at a press conference in Bengaluru, Leader of the Opposition R. Ashok alleged that the report had been dictated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to suit his vote bank politics. 

“The caste census report is not only unscientific, but also tries to divide various castes such as Lingayats, Vokkaligas and Dalits only to project Muslims as the dominant community with political intentions,” Mr. Ashok alleged. 

“Previously, Lingayats were considered the largest caste in the State, followed by Vokkaligas and Dalits. However, the new report claims Muslims are the largest community. Despite having various sub-castes within Muslims, they have not been separated, while certain sub-castes among Vokkaligas and Lingayats have been categorised just to divide the community,” he alleged. 

He accused the report of inflating the numbers of communities that are considered a vote bank for the ruling Congress and unfairly targeting Vokkaligas, Lingayats, and Dalits. 

He warned that if the State Cabinet approves this report, then there would be internal rebellion in the Congress as the affected communities would reject Ministers from their community. 

Maintaining that the report was not authentic as they had not visited lakhs of households, he wondered why the report did not use software tools and data to authenticate the identity of enumerated households.