BJD supported NDA RS Dy Chairman candidate due to CBI fear: Congress
Bhubaneswar, Aug 9 : The Odisha unit of the Congress on Thursday said that the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supported the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson's post in fear of a CBI inquiry into the chit fund scam.
The party also said that this move strengthens the ongoing rumour of seat sharing discussions between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the BJD.
"BJD supporting the NDA candidate for Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman election isn't surprising at all, that's what allies are supposed to do. It's a deal to stop CBI from exposing BJD's misdeeds," said Pradesh Congress Committee President Niranjan Patnaik.
Its claim of maintaining equal distance from the Congress and the BJP will be judged by the people, said Patnaik.
Notably, the NDA-supported candidate, Harivansh Narayan Singh, is a JD(U) MP. The BJD explained that it decided to support the JD(U) candidate since the JD(U) and the BJD have similar ideological origins, emerging from the Jayprakash Narayan movement.
It said that in the highest traditions of a parliamentary democracy, constitutional posts like that of the Speaker and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha should be decided by a consensus instead of elections.
Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated Harivansh Narayan Singh on being elected as the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman on Thursday.
"A socialist leader from the same village as legendary Jayaprakash Narayan and former newspaper editor and author, I am sure he will discharge his duties according to the highest parliamentary tradition," said the Chief Minister.
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Karnataka caste census report likely to be placed before cabinet on Jan 16
Bengaluru (PTI): With the Socio-Economic and Education Survey report, popularly known as the 'caste census,' likely to be placed before the state cabinet on January 16, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara stressed that its contents should be made public.
He said, any decision based on the report is the prerogative of the government and it will be taken after analysing it.
Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes under its then Chairman K Jayaprakash Hegde had submitted the report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on February 29 last year, amid objections raised by certain sections of society and voices against it from within ruling Congress.
"It was decided the sealed cover (of report) will be opened before the cabinet, otherwise it may lead to leakage of information....whether there will be a discussion on it or not, I cannot speak about it now, once opened at least abstract information will be known to us," Parameshwara told reporters here replying to a question.
To a question on the opposition from certain dominant sections to the report and implementation of its recommendations, he said, the government has got the report after spending Rs 160 crore tax payers money, it should at least be made public, taking action based on it is secondary.
"Taking action based on it is left to the discretion of the government, the government will ultimately decide. But at least the information from the report that was prepared by spending Rs 160 crore, should come out. So there is a demand that what is there in the report be made public," he added.
What is happening now is bringing out the information from the report, the Home Minister said.
Karnataka's two dominant communities -- Vokkaliags and Lingayats -- have expressed reservations about the survey done, calling it "unscientific", and have demanded that it be rejected and a fresh survey be conducted.
The commission headed by Jayaprakash Hegde had said that the report was prepared based on data collected by 1.6 lakh officials, including 1.33 lakh teachers under the leadership of respective Deputy Commissioners of the districts across the state.
The then Siddaramaiah-led Congress government (2013-2018) had in 2015 commissioned the survey in the state.
The state Backward Classes Commission under its then chairperson Kantharaju was tasked with preparing a caste census report. The survey work was completed in 2018, towards the end of Siddaramaiah's first tenure as Chief Minister. The findings of the survey in the form of a report never came out in public thereafter.
With strong disapproval from the two politically influential communities the survey report may turn out to be a political hot potato for the government, as it may set the stage for a confrontation, with Dalits and OBCs among others demanding for it to be made public.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president, and a Vokkaliga, was a signatory, along with a couple of other ministers, to a memorandum submitted by the community to the chief minister earlier, requesting that the report and the data be rejected.
All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of Veerashaiva-Lingayats, which has also expressed its disapproval vis-a-vis the survey and demanded conduct of a fresh survey, is headed by veteran Congress leader and MLA Shamanuru Shivashankarappa. Several Lingayat ministers and MLAs too have raised objections.
According to some reports, findings of the survey are allegedly contrary to the "traditional perception" with regard to the numerical strength of various castes in Karnataka, especially Lingayats and Vokkaligas, making it a politically sticky issue.
