Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday stated that the Backward Class Commission, which has been entrusted with the task of conducting a door-to-door Socio-Economic and Academic Survey across Karnataka, does not have the mandate to undertake the enumeration of all communities.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru following the meeting of key leaders on Tuesday, Basavaraj Bommai said, “The Centre has already declared that it will undertake the caste census officially all over the country. The caste census by the Karnataka government is nothing but cheating the people of the state. They aim to survey 1.5 crore households in 15 days, and each household will have to answer 60 questions. How much time is required to answer this? This is an impossible task.”

“The state government has given the responsibility of conducting the caste survey to the Backward Class Commission. The Commission does not have the mandate to conduct a caste census. It has the mandate to conduct the enumeration of backward classes only; it does not have the power to enumerate all communities in the state,” Bommai underlined.

“Powers are being misused, and people are being misled by the state government. CM Siddaramaiah comes from a socialist background, and he must rectify his mistakes,” Bommai urged. “There is the Census Act. The law concerning the Census clearly states that the state government does not have any authority to conduct a door-to-door survey. Now, they have to get samples and conduct the Socio-Economic and Academic Survey. But the state government has undertaken a door-to-door survey programme. This is against the law and the Census Act,” he stated.