No hasty decision, will listen to all: Govt

Belagavi/Mangaluru: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar Sunday clarified the state govt won't rush through the socio-economic and educational survey and will listen to voices from all communities to ensure none is handed a raw deal.

In Belagavi, Siddaramaiah said he had discussed the report with party leader Rahul Gandhi before bringing it before the cabinet. "Contrary to reports that Rahul wrote a letter to me, I discussed it with him. Without Rahul's consent, we would not have released the report's findings," he added.

Speaking about the merits of conducting a survey which will help in making course correction, the CM said no caste or community will get the cold shoulder: "Should we not care for our poor and lift them out of poverty? Should we not provide them education? Or should they be labelled by caste? Shouldn't Muslims secure education?"

In Mangaluru, Shivakumar, in a similar vein, said the Congress govt works on the fundamentals of democracy. "No hasty decision… We are expressing our opinions at cabinet meetings in a cordial manner. The CM has asked us to gather opinions of the people and the MLAs and hand it in writing to him. We'll discuss this at the cabinet," he said.