He said this while commenting on the controversial caste census report being tabled in the upcoming cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Speaking to media in Bengaluru, he said, “Let the details of caste census come into the public domain. The decisions over the report are a different matter. We have seen earlier that the decisions are made based on census. I won’t be able to tell now whether there will be a discussion on it in the cabinet meeting. At least we will know about the abstract of the report. About Rs 160 crore of tax payer’s money has been spent on the caste census by the government. That report needs to come into the public domain. Taking action on the report is different. It will be the discretion of the government to take action on the report. The decision of the government is final in this regard.”

“The caste census report has to be opened in the cabinet meeting. It is submitted in the sealed cover. No one is supposed to open it before and there will be the possibility of an information leak. Hence, precaution is taken to open it only in the cabinet meeting,” he stated.

The BJP and JD(S) have claimed that the report is flawed and prepared at the behest of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The influential Vokkaliga and Lingayat community leaders have demanded a resurvey. It is alleged that the caste census survey is likely to be used as a tool to show the Muslim population on a higher side in the state.

The delegation of MLAs from the Dalit and backward communities met CM Siddaramaiah recently and demanded the implementation of the caste census report in the state.

The BJP has repeatedly chided that whenever CM Siddaramaiah faces political uncertainty, he brings the matter of caste census to the forefront.

Commenting on the tour of the CM and Deputy CM to New Delhi, Parameshwara stated, “The CM and Dy CM are invited to attend the inauguration of the new AICC building in New Delhi and in this backdrop, they are in New Delhi. I was supposed to travel to New Delhi, but, since Sonia Gandhi and the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be busy, I have postponed my visit. The decision will be taken regarding the organising of the meeting of the representatives belonging to the SC and ST community.”

When asked about the statement of Minister for Excise R.B. Thimmapura that he is capable of becoming the CM, Parameshwara stated that Minister Thimmapura has been in politics for 30 years, and has the capacity. "There is an instruction from the representative of the high command, the National General Secretary not to speak about the change of the CM in the state," he added.

Answering a question on a decision to organise community meetings through the party, he stated, “We are focused on resolving our problems, let the party organise community meetings if it wants. The party is us. Is there an existence of a party without us? We constitute the party. The party will exist if we are there. We, the community constitute the party and it is this community which has built the party. The Congress party is a movement and claims that we are not a cadre-based party are wrong ... and it’s a movement.”

“I do not know astrology to predict whether there will be major political developments in the Congress in March. I would have made statements, if I knew astrology and prediction,” he said answering a question.

“The people who have taken the performance report from the ministers will have to talk about the cabinet reshuffle and I can’t make comments. We have submitted the report. I have also made a submission regarding my department,” he stated.

In 2014, Siddaramaiah (during his first tenure as the CM) ordered the Karnataka Socio-economic and Educational Census. A committee headed by then Backward Classes Commission H. Kantharaju did the survey at a cost of around Rs 169 crore. The report was ready by 2016, it was, however, put in cold storage by subsequent governments. The Congress and JD(S) coalition government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy and the BJP government headed by B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai also kept the report pending.

In 2020, the state's BJP government appointed Jayaprakash Hegde as the Commission chief but the report was not made public. Hegde submitted the final report to the Siddaramaiah government on February 29, 2024.

Courtesy Media Group: IANS