Karnataka | Amid MUDA scam and by-polls, caste census goes into deep freeze again

The much-talked-about caste survey report in Karnataka will again not see the light of the day, at least for now.

A meeting of the state Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has decided that the report should not be rushed and that any decision on it will only come after all communities are taken into confidence.

A Sunday (October 20) meeting of ministers saw those from the influential Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities gently warn the Chief Minister against releasing the report.

Dalits are upset

Predictably, not everyone is happy with the decision. Ministers and Congress MLAs belonging to Scheduled Castes have gathered around state Home Minister G Parameshwara to push for a separate census for Dalits.

Also read | Why caste census is critical to implement SC's quota-within-quota ruling

This has, in turn, generated fears of a needless and ugly controversy if discrepancies arise between the SC population in the census and the potential numbers in a future separate census for the Dalits.

Government wants to play safe

One minister in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet who doesn't want to be named told The Federal that the government has no intention of confronting the Lingayats and Vokkaligas who have expressed strong opposition to the caste census.

Also, after the MUDA (Mysore Urban Development Authority) controversy involving the Chief Minister, influential Vokkaliga and Lingayat ministers in the state came out openly in support of Siddaramaiah. Now, they want the CM to listen to them.

Therefore, a clear stand on the caste census is deemed unlikely.

Elections put curbs

Siddaramaiah had previously stated that the Cabinet would discuss the caste census report submitted by the Backward Classes Commission and come to a major decision.

Also read | ‘Trying to change system’: Siddaramaiah promises action on caste census report

With the announcement of three by-elections in November and the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, the government, in any case, cannot take any decision on the caste census.

The Vokkaliga Association has also warned the Congress government against accepting the report under any circumstances.

Lingayats warn CM

Leaders of the Veerashaiva Lingayat community, including Congress MLA Shamanur Shivashankappa, have warned the government against releasing the caste survey report.

Shivashankaraappa, the national president of the Akhila Bharatiya Veerashaiva Mahasabha, told The Federal that community leaders have convened a meeting on the issue. The community’s feelings will be conveyed to the CM, he added.

Also read: The Federal impact | Missing caste census report raises authenticity questions

During his first term as Chief Minister in 2013, Siddaramaiah conducted a social, educational and economic survey of backward classes which included a caste-wise survey. It came to be called a caste census.

CM rejects report

Before the 2018 Assembly elections, caste-wise data got leaked before the report was submitted to the state government. It indicated that SCs and STs constituted the largest population in Karnataka, estimated at around 1.20 crore.

This was followed by the Muslim community at 76 lakhs, the Veerashaiva Lingayat community at 65 lakhs and the Vokkaliga community at around 56 to 60 lakhs.

This itself created a huge row as the report hugely upset the Lingayat and Vokkaliga leaders. Siddaramaiah rejected the report. Consequently, the Congress faced setbacks and failed to secure a clear majority in the Assembly elections.

Watch: MUDA Controversy| Is it a scam? Or a political controversy made to look like a scam?

After the Congress won a majority in the 2023 Assembly elections, Siddaramaiah tasked Jayaprakash Hegde, a former president of the Backward Classes Commission, with rectifying the discrepancies in the caste census report.

An uncertain future

Hedge revised the report based on additional data from districts and submitted it to the government. But with the Lok Sabha elections that were held this year, Siddaramaiah sat on the report.

Now, the case census issue has again surfaced even as the Chief Minister battles allegations of alleged corruption in the MUDA land scam.

The report, political sources say, will only be used for political manoeuvring until the elections end. Afterward, it remains to be seen whether the Cabinet will discuss and officially release the report or retain it as a tool to intimidate opponents until the end of the Congress government’s tenure.