Bengaluru: Internal pressure is faced after the leakage of the Government of Karnataka Caste census report This has strongly opposed from different quarters. Prior to the special cabinet meeting scheduled on Thursday to discuss in detail in the report, senior nets of influential Vokkaliga and Lingayat caste groups have said meetings of their respective communities. Both communities say that their respective ratio in the total population is much higher than the report.
Deputy CM and PCC chief DK Shivkumar on Tuesday asked the Vokkaliga community to address a special meeting of Congress MLAs. Shivkumar said, “We will discuss with him (Vokkaliga MLAs) and suggest ways to ensure that everyone is honored without harming everyone’s feelings,” Shivkumar said, the government said that the government will not ‘decide in any hurry’.
Forest Minister Ishwar Khandre, who is a Lingayat, said: “The leadership of the community and the opinion of individuals will be hit to make it aware of the meeting.” CM Siddaramaiah has maintained silence on this issue, stating, “I will talk about it in a special cabinet meeting.”
The caste census report was submitted to the cabinet on 10 April, but its content has not been officially released to the public. According to leaked conclusions, Vokaliga population With the proposed reservation of 7%, 61.6 lakhs or 10.3% of the state population. With the recommendation of 8% reservation, Lingayats are placed at 11% (66.3 lakh). However, the internal community division – Veerashaiva Lingayat at 10.4 lakhs, Panchamasalis at 10.7 lakhs, and others – has given rise to controversies over accurate representation.
In the leaked report, the Muslim population estimates 75.2 lakhs – or the state’s total 12.6% – and suggests doubling their reservation from 4% to 8%. “This is more than the Vokaliga community, which is currently considered the second largest population group in the state,” the report said.
Expelled BJP member and Vijayapura MLA Basnagauda Patil Yatnal questioned the credibility of the report and challenged the continuous classification of Muslims as a minority. “If Muslims are the largest community, then snatch the community of the situation of the ‘minority community’. If the census report is to be accepted, only 2% of the state’s population formed Brahmins should be given minority community status,” he said.
