Why was Siddaramaiah not ready to accept caste census report when he was CM? asks Shettar

Charging that Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah was shedding crocodile tears just to get the tag of 'champion of backward classes', MLA and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Thursday alleged that the LoP did not obtain the social and economic survey (caste census) of backward classes report from the backward classes commission in 2015 due to pressure from within the Congress.

"Siddaramaiah is an expert in telling lies. After not presenting the caste census report before the Legislature when he was the chief minister, he is now shifting the responsibility to governments which came later. Siddaramaiah had claimed holding this survey as his great achievement, and Rs 180 crore was spent for that," Shettar said.

In a PIL filed before the High Court, Congress leader Mukhyamantri Chandru has mentioned that the report was ready on May 15, 2015 itself. If Siddaramaiah had real concern about backward classes, he should have obtained the report immediately after it was ready, by getting the signature of the commission's then member-secretary on it, he noted.

Also Read | Caste census not against any community: Siddaramaiah

Siddaramaiah is following a hit and run policy, and is making irresponsible statements. He blamed H D Kumaraswamy as well and asked the present BJP government to disclose the report. But, he did not raise the issue in the recently-held session of the State Legislature, Shettar lambasted.

"We do not know what is there in the report. The government would take a suitable decision on this issue, after consulting the backward classes commission chairperson," he stated.

'Visit Afghanistan once'

Responding to Siddaramaiah's remarks likening BJP and RSS to Taliban, Shettar asked him to visit Afghanistan once, to understand the Taliban's culture. "He made cheap remarks against nationalist organisations, and it is a black spot on his personality," Shettar added.

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