BENGALURU: Former chief minister and JDS state president HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday challenged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to accept the caste census report and implement it.
“He speaks about (former chairman of backward classes commission) Kantaraju’s report every day and also accuses us of not accepting it when we (BJP and JDS) were in power. Now, you (Siddaramaiah) have been in power for one year. Why you have not accepted and implemented it? Who is coming in your way to do so? If you have guts, accept the report and implement it,” the former chief minister dared Siddaramaiah.
He invited Siddaramaiah for an open debate on who all benefited from reservation. There are 108 sub-castes in the 2A category. The CM should come for an open debate on who has taken the lion’s share of that reservation benefit, he said.
Missed opportunity
JDU leader Nitish Kumar has taken oath as Chief Minister for the 9th time, which is a record, the JDS leader said. In 2018, Narendra Modi had asked him to leave the Congress and join hands with the BJP to take oath as chief minister, he said and added that if he had listened to him then, he would have become chief minister again like Nitish Kumar. Kumaraswamy expressed regret that he lost that opportunity by trusting the Congress that stabbed him in the back.
Kumaraswamy said now everyone is leaving the Congress as no one wants to be associated with it.