Caste Census in Telangana: New Era of Social Justice or Political Gamble?

Behind the landmark census lies a carefully crafted move to checkmate the Congress' rivals, writes K Nageshwar.

Behind the avowed objective of these policy measures lies a carefully crafted social engineering move to bolster the Congress support base and checkmate manoeuvres of its rivals.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

In a strategic move this week, the Congress government in Telangana brought into effect twin policy measures aimed at ushering in social justice. The state Assembly adopted reports envisaging Scheduled Caste (SC) sub-classification and a 42 percent reservation for backward classes in local bodies, which are expected to go to polls later this year.

Behind the avowed objective of these policy measures lies a carefully crafted social engineering move to bolster the Congress support base and checkmate manoeuvres of its rivals, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

The Congress has been running a nationwide caste census campaign and cornering the Narendra Modi-led BJP that has adamantly opposed this exercise. Taking advantage of this political milieu, the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government not only conducted a caste survey to ascertain the demographics of Telangana, but also adopted a resolution demanding a nationwide caste census, furthering Rahul Gandhi’s pet political agenda.

Political Fallout Spills to the Parliament

Though the caste survey will help the state government effectuate more targeted socio-economic programmes, its political fallout cannot be understated.

And both the BRS and the BJP have come up with their own narratives to counter Congress caste surveys.

Both parties have accused the Congress government of showing a reduced share of backward classes in the state population due to flaws in data collection. The Congress has vehemently dismissed the allegations, kicking off an intense war between the parties to win the public perception battle.

The BJP has also targeted the Congress over the reservation of 42 percent seats for backward classes in local bodies. The state legislature has appealed to the Centre to approve the proposal, but it may face legal hurdles as it crosses the 50 percent cap imposed on the total quantum of reservations by the Supreme Court in several of its judgments. 

The saffron party is against any legislative action to breach the 50 percent cap on the quota while the Congress, especially Rahul Gandhi, has been ardently advocating that this limit be done away with. Now, Telangana has joined this judicial political battle over the cap on the extent of quotas. 

On its part, the BJP has invented its own formula to counter this political engineering. Speaking in the state legislature earlier this week, BJP MLA Payal Shankar claimed the government’s caste survey report mentioned Hindu backward classes and Muslim backward classes, which will not withstand judicial scrutiny.

The BJP is trying to counter the Congress politics of social justice with its majoritarian politics, accusing it of indulging in Muslim appeasement. 

BJP, BRS Attempt to Control the Narrative

The BJP had embarked upon the poll plank of SC categorisation even before the Assembly elections to garner the major chunk of those voters. The party had also declared that its chief ministerial nominee will be from the backward classes, in a deft social engineering move, on the eve of elections.

But it did not specify a name due to an internal fight at the time between Bandi Sanjay, who is the current Union state minister for home, and Lok Sabha MP Eatala Rajender.

In a disastrous move, the party high command suddenly replaced Sanjay as the state party chief with G Kishan Reddy in July 2023, much to the chagrin of loyalists. This enigmatic move exposed the BJP’s commitment to the political empowerment of backward classes. 

The BRS, meanwhile, has also started demanding adequate representation for backward classes. K Kavitha, the daughter of BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao, organised protests last month to highlight this demand — in a frantic bid to carve out a space in the politics of social justice. 

In fact, the earlier BRS government led by KCR also conducted a comprehensive household survey immediately after assuming office in 2019. BRS working President KT Rama Rao tried to discredit the Congress government’s survey by comparing it with the KCR government-authored survey. However, Chief Minister Reddy was quick to respond, saying the survey by the earlier government lacked official sanction as it was never approved either by the Cabinet or by the legislature.

Congress’s Bid to Balance the Reddy Factor

The caste census and sub-categorisation could also be because the Congress, under Reddy, is walking the extra mile to counter criticism that the party is dominated by Reddys and that backward classes lack adequate political representation in the party and in the government. Traditionally, Reddys – a dominant upper-caste group in the state – have been the loyal support base of the Congress, even in the undivided Andhra Pradesh.

After the bifurcation of the state, the chief of the YSR Congress, Jagan Mohan Reddy, not only appropriated the political legacy of his father, the charismatic YS Rajasekhara Reddy, but even the loyal Reddy support base.

The supporters deserted the Congress and shifted alliance to the YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh. This happened mainly due to the decimation of the party, owing to people’s disenchantment with the bifurcation of the state against the wishes of people of that region.

Unlike in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the Congress in Telangana has continued to enjoy the support of the Reddys, disgruntled by the loss of power to BRS headed by KCR, who belongs to another socially influential yet numerically not so significant Velma caste. The Congress, during the decade-long rule of KCR, tried to capitalise on the discontent among Reddys, despite KCR’s serious attempts to pacify them.

In this socio-political context, Reddy emerged as the rallying force for the electorate, lured by the Congress poll slogan for change. He successfully surpassed party veteran and Dalit leader Bhatti Vikramarka in the race for chief minister, while the latter had to be content with the position of deputy chief minister.

Given this competition between the two leaders, the Congress high command chose Reddy due to the overwhelming support he enjoyed among party legislators. The reason to not appoint a backward class leader as the deputy chief minister was to protect the political importance of Vikramarka. As a result, the Congress party had to face criticism for ignoring the backward classes.

To balance the competing political aspirations of social groups, the party appointed Mahesh Kumar Goud, a backward class leader as the state Congress Chief. 

Implications and Importance of Madiga Sub-Classification

The state legislature also gave its approval for sub-classification of SCs, a long-standing demand of Madigas, the majority SC community in Telangana.

Before the 2023 elections, the BJP too tried to woo Madigas, which makes up over 50 percent of the SC population in the state. At the time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a large meeting organised by Manda Krishna Madiga, who has been spearheading the movement for sub-classification of SCs for decades.

With the Supreme Court recently upholding sub-classification, the decks were cleared for its implementation. The Modi government also honoured Krishna Madiga with the prestigious Padma Shri award last month, further strengthening its outreach.

Countering the BJP’s political manoeuvres around SC sub-classification, the Reddy government showed remarkable alacrity in implementing the sub-classification. However, Manda Krishna Madiga alleged that sub-classification by the state government was done in an unscientific manner.

He faulted the manner in which various castes were sub-grouped and alleged that Madigas were denied a fair share.

Given Krishna Madiga’s political proximity to the BJP despite his unflinching commitment to the cause, the Congress will face heat on the issue. 

A caste survey, aimed at social, economic and political empowerment of backward classes and the sub-classification of scheduled castes, will certainly contribute to social justice. But the ruling and opposition parties are locked in an intense political battle to appropriate electoral dividends by controlling the narrative around social justice for other backward classes (OBCs) and the marginalised among scheduled castes.

(Prof K Nageshwar is a senior political analyst, faculty member of Osmania University, and a former MLC. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)