In the assembly elections of Karnataka, which is known as the fort of the South in the political world, BJP had to face a crushing defeat at the hands of Congress. Now both the major national parties are busy preparing for the assembly elections of five states to be held later this year as well as the Lok Sabha elections 2023. Apart from brainstorming on political strategy, all the parties are also making efforts to consolidate vote banks and castes.

After North India, now the discussion on caste-based census data has started in South also. Senior Congress leader and former Law Minister Veerappa Moily has demanded from the Congress government of Karnataka that the caste census data and the report prepared about five years ago should be made public.

Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily demanded Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to release the caste census data. He said that the Congress government should release the caste census report. Former Union Law Minister Moily said that the caste census was conducted during Siddaramaiah's previous tenure (2013-18).

Moily said the caste-based census was conducted by the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission (KSBCC) under the chairmanship of H Kantharaj. He said that the census report was later submitted to the government by the Kantharaj Commission.

He said that when HD Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister in the government of Congress and Janata Dal Secular (JDS) formed after 2018, the Kantharaj Commission report was also submitted to him. He said that after the fall of the Congress-JDS coalition government, when BJP's BS Yediyurappa and then Basavaraj Bommai became the Chief Ministers, the caste-based census report was still with the government.

On the reason why the Kantharaj Commission report has not been released in the last five years, Moily said, it only means that the Bharatiya Janata Party and JDS do not want to conduct a caste-based census. This is the reason why both the parties did not release the Kantharaj Commission report.

In fact, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made the caste-wise census data public on Monday. Will Moily, like Nitish, demand Siddaramaiah to release the caste census report? On this question, he said that whenever the Congress government comes to power, we make every possible effort for the welfare of the backward caste people. Let us tell you that Moily has also been the former Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Referring to a nearly 30 years old incident, Moily said, in 1992, when he was the Chief Minister, he had released the Chinnappa Reddy Commission report. He said that the Chinnappa Commission report had been prepared during the government of Ramakrishna Hegde (Janata Party). He said that despite the report of the panel formed for caste-based census being ready, not releasing it raises questions on the intentions of the government.

Regarding the policy of the Congress government, Moily said, they are going to demand from Siddaramaiah to release the caste census report immediately. Now because the Congress government has come to power. Siddaramaiah has become the CM, he will have to release the report. Moily said that if the report reveals 'injustice' and any other kind of 'problems' with any community, then Siddaramaiah can take appropriate action. He said that in the matter of releasing the Kantharaj Commission report, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should not under any circumstances procrastinate under the guise of technical reasons.

Amidst Moily's demand, it is also interesting to know that Karnataka's strong and veteran leader HD Deve Gowda has given a big statement regarding Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Regarding receiving an offer to join the India Alliance amid the efforts for opposition unity, Deve Gowda said that he had received an offer to join the India Alliance. From whom did the proposal come? On this question, Deve Gowda said that four months ago a proposal to form Janata Freedom Front had come to him.