Mysuru: Lashing out at the State Congress Government for its move to order a fresh caste survey, former MP Prathap Simha said that it was a wasteful exercise as the Union Government is launching a country-wide caste and population census.

Speaking to presspersons here this morning, Simha wondered what all had happened to the Kantharaj Commission Report which conducted a caste survey in the State when Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister a decade ago (2013-18).

Arguing that with the Congress Government deciding to conduct a fresh caste survey, the earlier survey which cost the Government over Rs.150 crore will become sheer waste of money, the former MP questioned the propriety and the rationale behind the move for a fresh caste survey.

Maintaining that the Siddaramaiah-led Government decided for a fresh caste survey after meeting Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi and other top Congress leaders at New Delhi recently, Simha reiterated that there was no need for the State Government to order a fresh survey when the Union Government had declared much before that the caste and national population census will commence shortly.

Accusing the State Government of trying to take shelter under the caste survey bogey for hiding its own failures and maladministration, Simha questioned MLC Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah what socio-economic knowledge he had to defend the fresh caste survey.

Strongly defending the caste enumeration in the national population census ordered by PM Modi headed  Union Government recently, Simha said that this census has not been ordered as a show of political strength. Instead it is an exercise for finding out the factual economic status and other statistics on key aspects of living of the people.

He further said that it is a ploy by CM Siddaramaiah to stick on to his post at a time when many other senior Congress leaders are trying to pull him down. Simha also accused Siddaramaiah of doing little for Mysuru,  his home district.