Bengaluru: After the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government made public the findings of the caste census data Monday, the spotlight has shifted on its INDIA partner, the Congress, which has kept under wraps a similar survey conducted in Karnataka in 2015.
The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka is yet to release the findings of the 2015 Socio-Economic and Educational Survey, better known as the caste census. Having just won a comfortable majority in the 10 May assembly election, people aware of the developments said that the Congress was unwilling to dwell on controversial topics, like the caste census, that could dent its chance in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
ThePrint in August reported that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah formed a team of academic experts to further analyse the data from the 2015 study.
The caste census in Karnataka attempted to capture granular data with 55 questions to determine the number of castes, composition, reservation status and benefits received, social, political and economic standing, among others.
The entire exercise cost the state over Rs 160 crore and involved 1.6 lakh people visiting each of the 1.35 crore households in about 45 days, according to the state backward classes commission.
According to people aware of the developments, there were 1,361 castes, sub-castes and synonyms before the 2015 survey, and this number has gone up significantly.
However, Siddaramaiah faces enormous challenges in trying to release the data, forcing him to keep it sealed during his last and current terms as chief minister. ThePrint lists three possible reasons why Siddaramaiah may have not made the report public.
‘Opposition from dominant castes’
Karnataka is a state with diverse caste groups, but some of them are considered dominant and have a strong influence on all aspects of political and social life. Among the larger groups, there are Lingayats, Vokkaligas and Kurubas, and among the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST), there are communities like Valmiki, Nayakas, Holeyas, Bhovi, Banjara and Madigas, among others.
However, Lingyats and Vokkaligas have arguably had a bigger share of power in politics as 16 out of the 24 chief ministers have belonged to these two communities.
Narendar Pani, a Bengaluru-based political analyst and faculty at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), told ThePrint that there was opposition to releasing the data as it would challenge the assumptions on the actual size of communities.
“(Caste census) will show that dominant castes are not as numerically dominant as they claim to be,” Pani said.
The last caste census was done in 1931, and since then, communities have claimed a certain percentage of the population without any empirical evidence to back it up.
Siddaramaiah’s politics has always challenged the dominant caste theory in Karnataka and he came to power by bringing together backward classes and minorities, or AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits).
Leaked data of the 2015 caste census showed that Lingayats and Vokkaligas were reduced to less than 10 percent from earlier claims of 17 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, some sections of Lingayats and Vokkaligas have already approached the Karnataka High Court to scrap the caste census on the grounds that it cannot be conducted by a state government. The case is currently pending in the court.
‘Internal rife’
The Congress won 135 out of 224 seats in the assembly election, but Siddaramaiah had to fight harder than he had in 2013 to beat D.K. Shivakumar — a Vokkaliga leader — for the top post.
Since the results on 13 May, several Congress leaders from various communities have claimed credit for the victory and have demanded important ministerial positions, including the CM or deputy CM’s chair, for their support.
Ever since the Congress brass announced Siddaramaiah as the CM and Shivakumar as his lone deputy, there have been several leaders who have staked claim for higher positions.
Leaders or their supporters have demanded that G. Parameshwara, M.B. Patil, Zameer Ahmed Khan, Satish Jarkiholi and several others also deserve to be made deputy CMs for their contribution in securing a comfortable majority.
B.K. Hariprasad, the Congress floor leader in the Legislative Council, has been vocal about his opposition to Siddaramaiah after he was overlooked for a cabinet berth. On Monday, Hariprasad even piled pressure on Siddaramaiah to release the caste census.
Bihar which is governed by INDIA alliance has released its caste census. Rahul Gandhi Ji has spoken passionately about ensuring justice for the backward classes. It is now imperative for Karnataka to forthwith release the caste census conducted in 2017.
— Hariprasad.B.K. (@HariprasadBK2) October 2, 2023
Congress veteran Shamanur Shivashankarappa, a Lingayat heavyweight, has reportedly alleged that Lingayat officers in the bureaucracy have been ‘sidelined’ by Siddaramaiah.
This statement reportedly even garnered support from opposition leaders like former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa and his MLA son, B.Y. Vijayendra. In Karnataka, it is not uncommon to cross the party lines for the community.
According to analysts, since leaders from dominant communities have threatened a backlash, Siddaramaiah has been forced not to release the data.
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BJP-JD(S) alliance
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) have announced a pre-poll alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha election to corner the Congress.
The BJP is believed to enjoy the support of the Lingayats, and the Vokkaligas have largely backed former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda-led JD(S). This alliance, in theory, will bring the Lingayat-Vokkaligas together to take on Siddaramaiah’s AHINDA.
Releasing the caste census, according to political analysts, would only strengthen this alliance.
The Vokkaligas and Lingyats felt neglected during Siddaramaiah’s first stint between 2013 and 2018 and consolidated behind Yediyurappa in 2018 and JD(S). Siddaramaiah even lost his seat from Chamundeshwari against G.T. Devegowda, a Vokkaliga.
According to Pani, it is widely believed that Siddaramaiah’s move to accord the Lingayats a minority religion tag in 2018 cost the Congress power in the assembly election that year.
In March 2018, just two months before the assembly election, Siddaramaiah had accorded minority religion status to Lingayats. However, the attempt to distinguish between Veerashaiva and Lingayats, terms that are used interchangeably even though the former is considered a sub-sect, led the BJP to call it a move to break up the Hindu society.
Karnataka is known to vote for a different party in the state and Union elections, and if the past is any indication, the Congress will be cautious in how it chooses to approach the caste census, analysts said. “Its INDIA alliance partner in Bihar may have taken a bold step, but Karnataka is a very different story,” one of the analysts explained.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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