Bengaluru, April 12 -- Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy launched a scathing attack on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, accusing him of using the caste census as a political gimmick to divert public attention from the Congress government's failures.

Speaking to the media near Freedom Park, Kumaraswamy said, "There is no meaning to the caste census report that is now being brandished. The Kantharaj Commission's report was prepared a decade ago. Why wasn't it implemented all this while? Now, with the public outrage over failed guarantees, rampant corruption, and price hikes reaching a boiling point, the government is trying to mislead people with the drama of the caste census."

"If you truly want a caste census, then conduct a fresh sur...