‘All upper castes united against caste survey’: Cong chief taunts D K Shivakumar in parliament

News Network

December 12, 2023

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has taken strong exception to Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar’s opposition to releasing the report of the State caste survey conducted during Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's first term in office.

Intervening in a debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill in the parliament on Monday, Kharge, when cornered by the treasury benches on the pending caste survey report, said that “all upper-castes are united on this.”

Kharge’s response was triggered by BJP MP and former Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi’s assertion that Shivakumar, while holding office, has made his opposition to the report public.

“Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has signed a memorandum that the report of the caste census should not be made public;” Modi said.

The Congress president was quick on his feet to clarify the party’s position on the issue.

“He said that our deputy CM is opposing caste census. He is doing it and they (BJP) are also doing it,” Kharge responded.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi joined the sharp exchange to underscore the differences in the Karnataka government.

“They have also warned the government that if the caste census report is made public, they will oppose it. They have said it clearly Kharge ji. You also come from Karnataka,” Joshi said.

Kharge responded to Joshi’s assertion alleging “all upper caste people are united internally on this. You are also there, and he is also there.”

After this brief exchange, Sushil Modi resumed the debate but not before challenging the Congress to make the report public.

“Kharge ji is sitting here. If he has courage, I request him to announce in this house that the caste survey report will be made public within a month,” Modi said.

I.N.D.I.A allies, especially those from UP, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu have sought to make holding a nationwide caste census a major political issue for 2024. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also backed the demand, which he reiterated during the campaign for the recently held elections to the 5 state assemblies.

After Bihar government released its caste census data, Siddaramaiah has been facing increasing pressure to disclose the findings of a parallel study called the Socio-Economic Survey.

However, the results have not been made public after leaked information suggested a shift in the perceived dominance of Vokkaligas and Lingayats.

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Waqf land: Karnataka govt warns action against officials issuing eviction notice to farmers

News Network

November 10,2024

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has warned that disciplinary action will be taken against those officials who change the land mutation records and serve eviction notices to farmers under the Waqf Act.

In a letter, the Revenue Department Principal Secretary Rajender Kumar Kataria reminded all regional commissioners and deputy commissioners in the districts that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently had a meeting following complaints about certain land properties being made in favour of the Karnataka Board of Waqfs.

In the meeting it was decided that all the directions issued previously by any government office or authority to change the mutation records has been withdrawn, the letter said.

It added that all the notices served in the past have also been withdrawn and no action should be taken against the farmers who are cultivating on the said land.

On the directions of the chief minister, the previous letters and the latest reminders served on November 7 to the farmers and land owners have been withdraw, the letter said.

"The officials who served reminder-2 despite the chief minister's direction will face appropriate disciplinary action," Kataria said in his letter.

He said he has been instructed to strictly implement the chief minister's direction.

The fresh direction was issued in poll-bound Karnataka, where bypolls to three crucial assembly segments are due on November 13.

Some farmers in Honwad village in Vijayapura in north Karnataka had alleged last month that they were served eviction notices as the Waqf Board claimed rights over it.

Subsequently, complaints started in pouring in from some other parts of the state.

BJP leader Tejasvi Surya on October 25 alleged that Karnataka Waqf Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan directed the deputy commissioners and revenue officials to register lands in favour of the Waqf Board within 15 days, which resulted in confusion.

On Surya's request, the Chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Jagdambika Pal visited Karnataka on November 7 and met farmers in Hubballi, Vijayapura and Belagavi districts who had alleged that their lands were marked as Waqf properties.

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