Bengaluru: “I have been working towards the welfare of every community and not just the AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, BCs and dalits)” said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday at the silver jubilee celebrations of the Karnataka Padmashaali Mahila Samaja in the city.

Siddaramaiah said, “While it is true that I have a special inclination towards the uplift of the AHINDA communities, I am working for all sections of society, equally.”

Beneficiaries of the state government’s flagship programme, the Anna Bhagya scheme, belong to all sections of society, not necessarily to the AHINDA, he clarified.

The CM’s clarification also comes in the backdrop of senior Congress leader S M Krishna reportedly complaining to party supremo Sonia Gandhi against Siddaramaiah’s overemphasis on AHINDA.

Referring to objections on the decision of the state government to conduct a caste survey, he said, “The real purpose behind the survey was to serve the poorer sections in society. Women are deliberately denied access to education. “Education is the best tool to achieve equality, remove poverty and discrimination”, he added.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, Kannada and Culture Minister Umashree, Congress MLC M D Laxminarayana and others were also present.

The event was follwed by a cultural programme.