Fear of backlash keeps Cong from caste census plunge, believe experts

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: Observers believe that Kantharaju Commission has been kept in abeyance because of political compulsions. Backward Classes (BC) leader Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, then in the Opposition, hadn’t broached the subject in the leadup to the Assembly polls.

However, he did promise to accept the report and disclose the details in November after he assumed power.

The Kantharaju Commission report was constituted in April 2015 during Siddaramaiah’s first term under Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission (KSBCC) Chairperson H Kantharaj for Rs 162 crore.

Lingayats, Vokkaligas wary

Alleged leaks from the Kantharaju Commission report seem to suggest that the two most politically dominant communities in the state – Lingayats and Vokkaligas – were now outnumbered by Dalits and Muslims, both communities with fewer resources and political heft.

This has led many Lingayats and Vokkaligas across party lines to oppose the disclosure and implementation of the report, which may recommend increasing the quota share of the more populous groups at the expense of the less populous ones.

JD(S) legislature party leader HD Kumaraswamy is vehemently opposed to it. Deputy CM Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy are Vokkaligas and lean on their community. Lingayats on the other hand back the BJP.

That leaves the Congress finding it difficult to cater to its Ahinda (acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalit) support base.

Lok Sabha polls roadblock

Professor Narayana A from the School of policy and Governance at the Azim Premji University held that Congress didn’t want to antagonize Vokkaligas and Lingayats before the Lok Sabha elections.

“I don’t know whether it is a good strategy to do it before the Lok Sabha election because in Karnataka at least, the OBCs (Other Backward Classes) are not solidly with the Congress. They may lose both Vokkaligas and whatever little Lingayat support they have now, this might not be a very wise thing for them to do. Except for the Kurubas, no other OBC caste is solidly behind the Congress,” he said.

Mysore University political science professor Muzaffar Assadi agreed that the general elections were a roadblock but added that Congress taking the Kantharaju report plunge after the Lok Sabha polls are possible.

“They might release it for an open debate but may not implement it. Let there be a debate about this caste census. Who is the majority and who is the minority? How Dalits have become more populous now,” he said, adding that there was also the potential for creation of political binaries and division.

“If they want to bring about social engineering here in Karnataka, probably this caste census is required,” Assadi said.

Demographic shift

According to the alleged leaks, Scheduled Castes (SCs) include some “touchable” nomadic castes number 1 crore, 8 lakhs, which is about a third of Karnataka’s six crore people.

Muslims are the second most populous group at 85 lakhs which is more than 14 per cent. Lingayats have slipped to 10 per cent at 60 lakhs. Similarly, Vokkaligas have slipped to eight per cent at 50 lakhs.

Kurubas number 45 lakhs and 7.5 per cent. Scheduled Tribes (STs) account for 6.6 per cent and 40.45 lakhs.