‘Who stopped you from implementing the caste census report?': H D Kumaraswamy asks Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy Sunday slammed Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah following the latter's allegations that Kumaraswamy had stalled the implementation of the Social and Educational Survey Report – popularly known as caste census – compiled by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes during his tenure as chief minister.
Speaking at the Janata Dal (Secular) state headquarters in Bengaluru, after flagging off the party's state tour and membership campaign under Nikhil Kumaraswamy, president of the JD(S) youth wing, the Union Minister asked why the Karnataka government had not accepted its report during its two-year tenure. The state government has recently decided to scrap the Survey carried out in 2015 and go for a fresh survey of various castes in the state.
'The CM has falsely claimed that I threatened the then-minister C Puttarangashetty not to accept the caste census report,' Kumaraswamy said, countering Siddaramaiah's remarks made last Thursday. The CM had alleged that though the Survey report was ready during Kumaraswamy's tenure as CM, he had decided against accepting the report.
'It's been two years since you came to power. Who has stopped you from implementing the caste census? Aren't you the so-called champion of backward classes? Then why haven't you implemented it?' he asked.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP and JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda responded to the contention that the JD(S) as a regional party would not survive after him. The former prime minister said the 'party has survived and will survive after I am gone'.
Reacting to the loss of the party in the Channapatna bypoll last year, Deve Gowda said, 'One defeat cannot shake us. We will rise again, and the party has that strength.'
Responding to accusations that the JD(S) was a family-run party, Deve Gowda maintained that it was a party of its workers. 'Many great leaders have held office through this party, and many are still serving. Some have held positions and left, but the party has endured. Between two national parties, JD(S) has remained a strong regional force,' he said.
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