Karnataka - Kantharaju Caste Report Stirs Hornet's Nest

The much awaited Kantharaju caste survey report which was finally submitted to the government last week, is threatening to cause a rift in Karnataka’s ruling party .

While legislators and ministers from the dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities have been protesting against the survey, those representing the backward and minority communities, have been pitching for it.

The controversy gained momentum ever since talk about submission of the caste survey surfaced a few months ago. Now that it has been received by the government, the protests from the influential Lingayat and Vokkaliga sections, have become strident. Especially, as their seers have also opposed the report.

While Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah heaved a sigh of relief after accepting the contentious caste census, the divergent views within the party are proving to be a headache for him. However, he is keen to provide higher reservation for the backward classes.

The ‘Socio-economic and Education Survey’, as the caste report is titled, was initiated in 2015, during Siddaramaiah’s first term as CM. Work on the survey was undertaken by the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission under its chairman, H. Kantharaju.

Even though the findings of the survey were ready by 2018, there was a delay in submitting them as Siddaramaiah came under heavy pressure from the two influential communities and also from his own partymen. It was also rumoured that at that time the report had listed Schedule Castes (SCs), as the majority castes in the state.

The main grouse of the dominant castes is that “the survey was not scientific at all”. Laxmi Hebbalkar, Women and Development Minister, argued that the report “is flawed as the team concerned did not visit several households in Belagavi.” Similar arguments have been made by other like minded legislators and ministers.

“The Lingayat community, for example, has over 103 sub castes. All of them should have been mentioned as Veerashaiva Lingayats”, the minister noted. Another senior minister, M.B. Patil said that many from his community had shared their sub castes instead of identifying themselves as Veerashaiva Lingayats. The story was repeated in the Vokkaliga community as well.

This explained why senior Congress leader, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, asserted that information available with him indicated that the caste report had shown the population of Lingayats at about 65 lakhs and not two crore, as is the case today. He added that the report had “virtually been picked from the dustbin”. Shivashankarappa wields immense clout as the president of the Akhil Bharata Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha.

Not surprisingly, the Vokkaliga leaders have made similar claims. They argue that their community’s population has been shown at 60 lakhs, claiming that the actual number exceeds 1.5 crore.

The arguments underline the assertion that the survey was not conducted in a “scientific way” leading to demands for it to be “re-conducted.”

These views apart, Siddaramaiah, for one, would be happy that at least the report has finally been submitted to the government, almost nine years after it was first commissioned. In fact, even before receiving it, the CM had said that the critics were making wild claims about the contents even though these had not been made public.

Notably, Siddaramaiah pushed Jayprakash Hegde, the chairman of the backward classes commission to submit the report quickly, as he was encouraged by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s announcement last year.

Gandhi had said that the states under his party will conduct a caste survey soon, if only to determine the backwardness of different communities.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the caste report runs into several volumes. Just the booklet containing the main recommendations is 200 pages. Of the 5.98 crore people from whom data was collected, according to available information, over four crore represented the minorities, backward classes and Dalits. Vokkaligas, Brahmins and others account for the balance.

For now, all the political parties, and the castes concerned, are waiting for Siddaramaiah to place the report before his Cabinet. After that, the picture will be clear as far as its contents are concerned.

However, Lingayats and the Vokkaligas remain confident that their actual numbers have been understated. This explains the call for a fresh survey. Seers of the two communities have already warned of state wide protests if the findings of the report do not favour the dominant sections.

Siddaramaiah realises that he is walking on a tightrope. Last month, deputy CM, D. K. Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga leader, was one of the signatories to a petition sent by his community to the CM against accepting the caste report.

The Dy. CM was reiterating views of the influential Vokkaliga seer, Nirmalanandanatha Swami. Swami had urged the government to “rethink before accepting the caste report as it was defective, half baked, unscientific, even incomplete.”

Despite the difficult situation that he faces, the CM would be only too happy if the population of the backwards outstrips the dominant castes. The opportunity, as it appears, would be ideal for him to provide more concessions to these sections, considering that he sees himself as a major leader of the backward classes.

Meanwhile, considering the difficult situation that the ruling Congress finds itself in, over the caste census, Siddaramaiah may find it convenient to buy time by setting up a Cabinet sub committee to examine the sensitive matter.