Karnataka Scraps Caste Census Report: Vokkaliga, Lingayat Lobbies Have Their Way

If implemented, the caste census report would have raised the OBC quota from 32% to 51% in Karnataka.

The scrapping of the report perhaps proves that the Congress cannot remain in power by antagonising the Veerashaiva Lingayats and Vokkaligas.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

Two forward and dominant communities in Karnataka—the Veerashaiva Lingayats and Vokkaligas—who had vehemently opposed the decade-old socio-economic and educational survey commonly known as the caste census report on grounds that the findings were unscientific, have won the battle.

The suspense over whether the Congress-ruled Karnataka government will implement the caste census report ended on 12 June with the state cabinet meeting deciding to conduct a fresh survey. The decision to junk the report followed a meeting with the Congress high command on 10 June, where KC Venugopal, the All India Congress Committee‘s general secretary (organisation), admitted that the original caste census report was a "little bit old."

"There are some apprehensions from communities about the counting in the previous caste census. The census was done by the Karnataka government 10 years ago—the data is a little old. The Congress party suggested to the CM to conduct a re-enumeration within a stipulated time.”

KC Venugopal

The Congress high command's directive to go in for a fresh survey came four days before Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who had made the caste census the focal point of his politics of late, had scheduled a special cabinet meeting to take a final call on the report, which had led to the CM being hailed as the champion of the backward classes, scheduled castes, and minorities. If implemented, the report would have raised the other backward classes (OBCs) quota from 32 percent to 51 percent.

2015 Caste Survey Set to Fail from Start

The brainchild of Siddaramaiah, the 2015 caste census report was the first to be undertaken in the country after 1931, when the last nationwide census to enumerate castes in India was conducted.

It was completed at a cost of Rs 165 crore under the supervision of former chairman of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, H Kantharaj—and fine-tuned by his predecessor, K Jayaprakash Hegde.

The fate of the report, which had used 51 indicators to elicit details about the professions, activities, and other aspects of the communities, was marred from the start with critics accusing the report and its findings of being influenced by political overtones rather than truly depicting metrics of "social justice" which it envisaged for the smaller communities.

Leaked findings of the report, ready since 2015, estimated the Lingayat population at 66.58 lakh or 11 percent of the population. This was contrary to the community's claim of constituting between 17 percent and 22 percent. The Vokkaligas were recorded at 61.35 lakh or 10.3 percent against their claim of 14 percent.

The Scheduled Castes were estimated at 1.09 crore or 18.27 percent, highest in the ranking, followed by the Muslims with 75.25 lakh or 12.58 percent.

These findings were said to contradict the traditional perception of the numerical strength of various castes. Political leaders, seers, and organisations representing the dominant Veerashaiva Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities vehemently opposed the report, demanding a re-survey, forcing successive governments headed by HD Kumaraswamy, now Union minister, BS Yediyurappa, and Basavaraj Bommai to keep the report in cold storage.

The pressure from communities other than the Veerashaiva Lingayats and Vokkaligas to make the 2015 report public started after the Bihar government released its caste survey report in October 2023—by which time Siddaramaiah had become the CM for the second time.

But not all are happy with the decision. A senior Congress leader, who did not want to be identified, said, "Siddaramaiah has succumbed to the pressure of the Gowdas (Vokkaliga) and senior Veerashaiva Lingayat leader and MLA Shamnur Shivashankarappa's lobbies. My Congress government has failed. It's not the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is opposing the report, but Shivashankarappa and the Vokkaliga leaders, who blackmailed the Congress.''

The move divided the Congress on caste lines. It was also opposed by senior cabinet colleagues of Siddaramaiah, who represented the Veerashaiva Lingayat and Vokkaliga castes, including Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga.

Senior Congress MLA and president of All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, had stated that the Congress cannot remain in power by antagonising the Veerashaiva Lingayats and Vokkaligas. Kumaraswamy, a Vokkaliga, questioned whether it was a ”caste census or a census of hatred“ report.

The BJP had also opposed it citing data inconsistency, but is now claiming the government's decision to conduct a fresh survey as diversionary tactics from other issues such as the recent stampede in Bengaluru during the IPL victory celebrations.

Mixed Response from Congress

Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting on 12 June, Siddaramaiah said the Backward Classes Act 1995 stipulates that a new survey is to be conducted every 10 years. Quoting Section 11 of Clause 1 of the Act, Siddaramaiah said the cabinet has decided that the time had legally come to undertake a new exercise. "We did not bow down to the high command. We are taking this decision according to the law."

To a question whether the government did not know about the law and had to wait for the Congress high command's directions, he said, “We looked into the Act when the matter came up for discussion. In the meantime, the high command called and gave suggestions."

Shivakumar said the reason for a fresh survey was to ensure social justice—and wasn’t for politics. "Let the opposition (BJP and JDS) take a stand of supporting the original report if they have an issue with the new one,'' he added.

Senior Congress MLC BK Hariprasad said the parameters to be fixed for the fresh survey should be specific and scientific. "After the report is ready, there should be no complaints of the findings being unscientific—and the survey once again going into cold storage,'' he added.

Sources close to the developments The Quint spoke with also maintained that the 2015 report had the potential to help smaller communities.

They pointed out that it won’t be easy to complete the survey within 90 days as schools have started, making it difficult for teachers to be pulled out for enumeration work. The 2015 survey was conducted from 11 April to 15 May during the summer vacation, they added.

Meanwhile, the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha General Secretary HM Renuka Prasanna said the fresh survey was a victory for the organisation which had been opposing it since 2016. "There should be public hearings now—and a new software developed for the enumeration as the old report was prepared manually,'' he added.

Sources said the government should now ensure that whatever was pointed out as "unscientific" in the old report should be identified and rectified. "There is a difference between saying the report was unscientific and had lapses. A teacher not going to a house knowingly or unknowingly is a lapse by the surveyor. Unscientific is if a caste has been undercounted as it would result in their political representation coming down or losing out on some schemes, which is also the pitch of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of 'jitni abaadi, utna haq'” (rights proportionate to population), they maintained.

(Naheed Ataulla is a senior political journalist based in Bengaluru.)