The Congress in Karnataka seems to be in a bind over the socio-economic and educational survey (caste census) conducted in 2015. Powerful caste lobbies within the party are at work ahead of the Lok Sabha election year, building pressure on the government not to accept the report.
While the party nationally has announced that it will undertake a caste census to study the status of Backward Classes if voted to power in 2024, it is struggling in Karnataka where the census was conducted during the earlier Congress government more than eight summers ago and the report is yet to see the light of day.
Over the past few weeks, as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the most popular OBC leader in the State, on multiple occasions announced that his government would accept the census report, the powerful land-owning Vokkaliga and Veershaiava/Lingayat communities brought together their leaders from across the political spectrum on a common platform to oppose the census that they term “unscientific”. They include powerful Ministers who will be part of the Cabinet that will decide on the fate of the report, if submitted in the near future.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and other Vokkaliga Ministers signed a petition against the report in November, pointing to fissures in the party over the issue. Last week, the Veerashaiva-Lingayats followed it up by urging the government to junk the report in favour of a fresh survey. The petition was signed by politicians from across parties, including Veerashaiva-Lingayat Ministers such as M.B. Patil, who is identified in the Siddaramaiah camp.
Acceptance of the caste census report was also the party’s promise for the 2023 Assembly elections. However, the party is said to be evaluating the impact of such a move. For, the powerful communities — based on the leaked data — believe that their population figures have decreased from the perceived numbers. The issue has brought the two politically strong communities — and their community organisations — contending for power together on a common ground after over three decades. Interestingly, the two dominant communities are also part of the Backward Classes reservation matrix in the State for public employment and education.
The political heat in the State over the report has increased after the Bihar government published its caste census, with several organisations representing Backward Classes urging the Congress government to honour its promise. The issue particularly flared up in recent weeks as K. Jayaprakash Hegde’s tenure as the Chairman of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes came to an end in November. Amidst speculation that he could submit the report soon, the government extended his tenure till the end of January 2024 to enable him to complete the report.
Mr. Hedge’s team is writing a fresh report based on the data collected by his predecessor, H. Kantharaj, in 2015. The Kantharaj Commission’s report could not be submitted to the government initially as the member secretary did not sign it, and later Chief Ministers H.D. Kumaraswamy (a Vokkaliga), and B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai (Lingayats) were accused of not being interested in accepting the report.
Those in favour of the report say that the survey will shed light on the socio-economic and educational status of each community, along with the benefits accrued from reservation in public employment and education. They argue that the communities opposed to the census report do not want the correct status to be revealed as they fear erosion of their importance in State politics. Kantharaj Commission members, on their part, hold that the census was conducted scientifically.
The Chief Minister, who is seen pushing for the acceptance of the report as the findings could further consolidate him as a champion of Backward Classes, has been vocal in asking leaders of the two communities to wait till the report is submitted before actually commenting on it. He has also pointed out that no one has seen the report yet to be able to comment on its contents.
As the two dominant communities try to prevail upon the government against accepting the survey report, more than 250 Most Backward Class communities, which have limited political capital and have not benefited from the OBC reservation in three decades, continue to await the survey findings.
