New Delhi, 10 June

The Congress top brass on Tuesday said it has decided to hold re-enumeration of caste data in Karnataka to address concerns of some communities who complained of being left out of the survey that was conducted 10 years ago.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of the party that also reviewed the government's handling of the Bengaluru stampede that claimed 11 lives on 4 June.

The caste census emerged as one of the key state issues discussed in a meeting where Congress President Mallikarjuna Kharge, senior leader Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar were among those present.

Briefing the media after the meeting, AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal said: "The caste census was discussed. The Congress party is thinking that whatever the Karnataka government has done in the caste census should be agreed to in principle. But there are some apprehensions from some sections and communities about the counting of the caste."

He noted that the state government had conducted the caste census a decade ago and the data was now outdated.

"The Congress party has suggested to the chief minister to do a re-enumeration process within a stipulated time, say 60-80 days. This is what we decided about the caste census in the meeting," he added.

The move comes close on the heels of the Centre announcing the schedule of the national Census with caste enumeration.

The chief minister and the KPCC president briefed the leadership about the incident and the action taken by the state government, Venugopal said.

"Certainly, we are very much concerned about every human life. An unfortunate incident has happened. The government of Karnataka has already ordered a judicial inquiry to find out what exactly happened," he said.

While the party chose not to delve into the specifics during the ongoing judicial inquiry, Venugopal emphasised that the Congress had a "clear view that there should be a clear-cut pro-people attitude on this issue".

Siddaramaiah has distanced himself from the incident, staying he was informed late and that the government did not organise the stadium event.

However, the Congress government has faced sharp criticism from the opposition BJP and JD(S), with both parties holding the chief minister and his deputy directly responsible and demanding their resignation. They have also sought a special Assembly session to discuss the incident.

The meeting also addressed the issue of "inadequate" central plan allocation to Karnataka.

"They (Centre) are completely neglecting the state of Karnataka on planned allocation. The central plan allocation to Karnataka is totally unacceptable. They are marginalising Karnataka into a corner. The Modi government is doing this type of injustice to Karnataka, which is not at all acceptable," Venugopal said.