BENGALURU: Terming the caste census conducted in 2015 as “outdated” and “unscientific”, BJP state president BY Vijayendra on Monday asked the government to throw the report into the “dustbin”.
If Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is really concerned about the welfare of people from backward classes, let the government conduct a fresh survey in a scientific manner and implement it after calling an all-party meeting, the BJP leader told media persons in Bengaluru. He said there is no clarity within the government as the CM, DyCM and ministers are giving different statements.
He said the Congress government in the state is in panic mode after the BJP’s Janakrosha yatra and is staging a protest against the Union government (in Bengaluru on April 17) to divert peoples’ attention from its failures, especially the series of price hikes. He accused the Congress leaders of trying to spread misinformation about the Union government over price hikes.
The BJP leader said during the UPA government from 2004 to 2014, petrol prices had increased by 90% and diesel prices went up by 96%. However, under the NDA government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from 2014 to 2024, petrol prices increased from Rs 72 to Rs 100 - a 38% increase and diesel prices increased from Rs 55 to Rs 90 - a 63% increase, the BJP leader said.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka wondered that if the Muslim population in the state is high as per the caste census, why do they need minority status. “This is nothing but a gimmick by Siddaramaiah. In the next cabinet, he will say he has formed a cabinet sub-committee headed by Shivakumar and it will decide on the caste census,” Ashoka said.
He said the Congress government launched a tax assault on the people of the state. He said Siddaramaiah terms BJP leaders as ‘Manuvadis’, but the Congress government has enforced Sharia law in the state.
On a five-year-old girl’s murder in Hubballi, the BJP leader said those who commit such crimes should face punishment as per the law and backed the police encounter.
JDS slams caste census
JDS state youth wing chief Nikhil Kumaraswamy termed the caste census report a document “for Siddaramaiah and prepared by Siddaramaiah himself.”
Speaking to the media persons, the JDS leader said the surveyors must produce records of how many households they actually visited. “Even the house of my father - a former chief minister and current Union minister - was never visited for the survey. Similarly, no one visited my grandfather’s house - a former prime minister of this country. There are countless such examples. I have serious doubts over whether the census was conducted at all,” he alleged.