Bengaluru, Sep 16 (IANS) Former Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday stated that the Backward Class Commission, which has been entrusted with the task of conducting a door-to-door Socio-Economic and Academic Survey across Karnataka, does not have the mandate to undertake the enumeration of all communities.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru following the meeting of key leaders on Tuesday, Basavaraj Bommai said, “The Centre has already declared that it will undertake the caste census officially all over the country. The caste census by the Karnataka government is nothing but cheating the people of the state. They aim to survey 1.5 crore households in 15 days, and each household will have to answer 60 questions. How much time is required to answer this? This is an impossible task.”
“The state government has given the responsibility of conducting the caste survey to the Backward Class Commission. The Commission does not have the mandate to conduct a caste census. It has the mandate to conduct the enumeration of backward classes only; it does not have the power to enumerate all communities in the state,” Bommai underlined.
“Powers are being misused, and people are being misled by the state government. CM Siddaramaiah comes from a socialist background, and he must rectify his mistakes,” Bommai urged.
“There is the Census Act. The law concerning the Census clearly states that the state government does not have any authority to conduct a door-to-door survey. Now, they have to get samples and conduct the Socio-Economic and Academic Survey. But the state government has undertaken a door-to-door survey programme. This is against the law and the Census Act,” he stated.
Secondly, they have added many castes, trying to create confusion between castes and reap political benefits. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should explain why he constituted the Kantaraj Committee and made its report public. The CM has also not told the people of the state why the caste census report was rejected, he said.
“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah constituted sub-committees regarding the previous caste census report and, one day, held a special Cabinet meeting declaring that the caste census report submitted by the Kantaraj Committee was rejected. Why was it not implemented, and what were the lacunae? Have they corrected all those lacunae in the fresh caste census? Is this done as per the law?” Bommai questioned.
“In the religion column, they are adding categories such as ‘Others’ and ‘Atheists.’ Why is this confusion being created? Atheists have no religion, so why are they included in the religion category?” he asked.
Bommai further stated, “Regarding conversions, the state government is categorising Brahmin, Lingayat, Vokkaliga, SC, and ST Christians. Why this confusion? Those who converted claim to be Christians. Many have undergone reverse conversions and returned to the Hindu religion. What mistake have they committed?”
“Who created these columns? Which law specifies that a separate column should be made for converted Christians? Under which provision of the Constitution is this mentioned? They often refer to the Constitution, yet they make decisions against it,” he added.
“We will condemn this. Already, many religious pontiffs have spoken about the shortcomings of the caste census, and they must be corrected,” he urged.
“Since 2014, there has been an attempt to divide the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community. People from the community have woken up and will not fall victim to their conspiracy. In the 2018 assembly election, CM Siddaramaiah was taught a lesson by being defeated. Now, yet again, he is making an attempt,” he said.
“Instead of uniting the community and the state and governing effectively, they are attempting to divide society and rule through this divide. This will be rejected by the people,” he asserted.
“All communities in the state should ensure unity. There is even a category of Kuruba Christian. In a few days, there will be a Kuruba Christian mutt, and CM Siddaramaiah might be appointed as pontiff there. In which direction is the society being taken?” he ridiculed.
Union Minister for Jal Shakti and Railways V. Somanna stated, “Tomorrow (September 17), we will celebrate the birthday of our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi across the country.”
Speaking to the media today, Somanna stated that he extended “birthday greetings to the great leader who has been a harbinger of the nation’s development and a visionary leader seen by the country.”
He stated that a key leaders’ meeting was held in Bengaluru.
“Although Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is well-versed in the history of the Veerashaiva religion, he has engaged in conspiracies to bring the community under control,” he claimed and added, “A thorough discussion has taken place regarding this matter.”
–IANS
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