BENGALURU: Marking the World Social Justice Day, CM Siddaramaiah on Friday alleged that sustained criticism and personal attacks against him are rooted in caste prejudice and unease among entrenched elites over his rise from an underprivileged backward-class background to the state’s highest office, prompting a rebuttal from BJP.
Siddaramaiah said his detractors are unable to reconcile to the fact that “a shepherd who once tended sheep” has become CM and is presenting budgets “with the confidence of an economist”. He argued that this journey had generated resentment and led to what he described as a calculated effort to politically sideline him.
He said opposition to his leadership is part of a broader historical pattern in which individuals who attempted to challenge entrenched hierarchies faced hostility and resistance.
He said advancing the cause of social justice was never easy. “Whenever I raised my voice for the marginalised or implemented programmes for them, attacks were launched against me, and they continue even now,” he said, adding that his alignment with the poor, oppressed and opportunity-deprived had made him a political target.
He asserted that Congress winning 136 Assembly seats was an endorsement of its commitment to inclusive development and welfare-driven governance. He pointed to landmark legislation aimed at institutionalising equity beyond political cycles.
These included the Karnataka Scheduled Castes Sub-Allocation and Scheduled Tribes Sub-Allocation Act, 2013, which mandates earmarking resources in proportion to the population share of SCs and STs. He cited steps to safeguard reservation in promotions and a policy reserving government contracts up to Rs 1 crore to SCs and STs as efforts to widen economic participation.
Another key reform, he said, was the Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 2016, which sought to grant ownership rights to long-settled residents by recognising habitations lacking formal land titles as revenue villages.
He said democracy, not hierarchy, defined modern India, describing his four-decade political career as “a path of stones and thorns, not roses”.
But, state BJP president BY Vijayendra accused Congress of using social justice as a slogan without matching fiscal commitment. Citing the RBI’s Study of State Budgets 2025-26, he said Karnataka’s social sector spending has declined from 42.1% to 40.7%. “True social justice lies in education, jobs, skills and opportunities that help people stand on their own feet,” he said.