Senior Congress leader wants Siddaramaiah govt to follow Bihar, make caste census report public

Hariprasad hails from the backward Billava-Ediga community that accounts for around 5-6 per cent of the population.

Senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad (File photo| EPS)

BENGALURU:  A sulking Congress leader and MLC BK Hariprasad, who wants backward classes to be given their due, posted on ‘X’ on Monday that the State Government should release its caste census conducted in 2017.  He said Bihar released the caste census on Monday, and reminded Congress leaders that party senior leader Rahul Gandhi has spoken passionately about ensuring justice to backward classes. 

Bihar which is governed by INDIA alliance has released its caste census. Rahul Gandhi Ji has spoken passionately about ensuring justice for the backward classes. It is now imperative for Karnataka to forthwith release the caste census conducted in 2017.

— Hariprasad.B.K. (@HariprasadBK2) October 2, 2023

His post comes days after Lingayat leader and Congress MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa saying that Lingayat officers are being ignored by the present government. 

Unlike the Lingayat demand for accommodation in the power hierarchy, the statement by former AICC general secretary is for providing backward classes with basic essentials -- roti, kapda aur makhan. Even during a recent meeting of backward community leaders at the Palace Grounds in Bengaluru, Hariprasad had said many microscopic and most backward communities are ekeing out a living in most desperate situations and they should be accommodated by the government. 

His supporters, referring to the Lingayat demand obliquely, said that while others are seeking  to be accommodated in the ruling power structure, most backward groups are struggling for survival. Many backward communities, numbering less than 5 lakh, don’t have a single MLA, MLC, MP, minister or a government employee from their communities.

Former Backward Commission chairman CS Dwarakanath too had raised this issue on several forums, saying the most backward communities should be identified and supported. Experts, who did not want to be named, said, “Hariprasad is asking that the most backward communities first be identified and the census is the best way to identify them and then support them.”

But the majority communities, Vokkaliga and Lingayat, are not pleased with the census and have not backed the demand to make it public. Hariprasad hails from the backward Billava-Ediga community that accounts for around 5-6 per cent of the population.