Karnataka Dy CM Shivakumar meets Cong's Vokkaliga legislators on caste survey report
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has held discussions with Congress legislators from his Vokkaliga community regarding the "caste census" and said the opinion expressed at the meeting will be shared with the Cabinet on April 17.
While he did not share details, the senior Congress leader said they discussed on what has to be told to the cabinet in one voice.
"I have tried to inform our legislators about the contents of the report to an extent. The legislators have shared their opinion. We have discussed on what has to be told to the cabinet in one voice and we will place it accordingly,” Shivakumar said.
Other than Vokkaliga Congress legislators, Ministers Ramalinga Reddy, Krishna Byre Gowda, Sudhakar, Cheluvarayaswamy, and former State Backward Classes Commission Chairperson Jayaprakash Hegde, among others attended the meeting held on Tuesday night.
The Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes' report was placed before the cabinet last Friday, and it will be discussed at a special cabinet meeting scheduled on April 17.
The findings of the survey are reportedly contrary to the "traditional perception" with regard to the numerical strength of various castes, especially the dominant Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas, making it a politically sticky issue. Ministers from these two communities are said to be preparing to place their objections during the next cabinet meeting, sources said.
The Vokkaligara Sangha, the apex body of the influential Vokkaliga community, earlier on Tuesday officially registered its strong protest to the survey report, calling it "unscientific”.
They have urged the state government to reject it and conduct a fresh survey while warning of strong agitation if the government proceeds with it.
The survey report, the details of which are not officially out yet, reportedly estimates the population of the Lingayat community at 66.35 lakh and the Vokkaliga community population is said to be at 61.58 lakh.
Asked whether the Vokkaliga legislators and ministers are fine with the community’s population figures mentioned in the report, Shivakumar said, "We are not worried or thinking about one community, as Congress president and ministers, protecting all communities is our duty and we will work accordingly.
"We are not ready to find mistakes in the system that has been followed while preparing the report, they have done a detailed exercise. Opposition parties are trying to create confusion through media, we will respond to it," he added.
Noting that it was the previous Congress party government that had commissioned the survey in 2015 and crores of rupees had been spent on it, he said, a section of media is reporting away from the facts regarding the contents of the survey report stating that the Muslim population was more.
Earlier, Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president, was a signatory, along with a couple of other Vokkaliga ministers, to a memorandum submitted by the community to the chief minister, requesting that the report and the data be rejected.
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Shreya Ghoshal, Arijit Singh cancel concerts in wake of Pahalgam terror attack
New Delhi: Singers Shreya Ghoshal and Arijit Singh have called off their scheduled concerts as a mark of respect to the victims and their families of the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
Slated to perform in Surat on April 26 as part of her All Hearts Tour, Shreya Ghoshal announced the cancellation through a joint statement with the organisers on Instagram. The show was to be held at the Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium. “In light of the recent and tragic events, the organisers, along with the artist, have collectively made the decision to cancel the upcoming show scheduled to happen in Surat this Saturday, April 26th,” the statement read. It further informed them that ticket holders would receive full refunds, automatically credited back to their original mode of payment.
Expressing solidarity with the victims, the caption added, “We stand in silence and solidarity—with heartfelt condolences to those affected by the tragedy.”
Shreya had shared a personal message earlier on social media in response to the attack. “I can't stop thinking about Pahalgam. About the silence that must've followed the chaos. About the families whose worlds will never be the same again. This is a wound to the soul of our nation. My heart goes out to every family shattered by this senseless violence. We grieve with you. And we will remember,” she wrote.
Similar in tone to Ghoshal’s, Singer Arijit Singh also cancelled his Chennai concert, which was scheduled for April 27. The organisers confirmed the cancellation and assured full refunds to all ticket holders in a statement shared on his Instagram.
