The much-delayed and controversial caste survey that was to be tabled at the Karnataka cabinet meeting on June 12 has now been canceled, after the Congress high command intervened.
The move has left the government of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with little option but to start the enumeration process afresh.
This action was another milestone when Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar came out victorious, as the party supported him by directing a fresh caste-based survey throughout the state.
Carried out originally by the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission headed by H. Kantharaju in 2014, the socio-economic and educational survey cost ₹175 crore but was plagued by several obstacles. Questions regarding its accuracy and methodology drew criticism from various communities—particularly the powerful Vokkaligas and Lingayats—who even spurned the one submitted by the K. Jayaprakash Hegde Commission in an earlier version in February 2024.
Compounding the woes of the Congress government was the recent tragedy at Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4, which killed 11 people. In the immediate aftermath, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi called in both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar to Delhi. Although the leadership is said to have approved the state government's disciplinary measures—ranging from suspensions of important officials to initiating twin investigations—a significant fallout was the demand for a brand-new caste enumeration exercise.
A new counting for the caste survey will be conducted in the next 90 days. Yet, the 2015 survey will be placed and deliberated in the state cabinet meeting scheduled on June 12 at Nandi Hills," said Siddaramaiah, who was determined to table the old report despite opposition by the BJP, JDS, and some Congress leaders, including his own deputy.
The fight over the caste survey cut the Congress down the middle. Siddaramaiah, who is regarded as a champion of the 'Ahinda' bloc (SCs, STs, part of the OBCs, and minority communities), was keen to approve the report to address his core vote base. But powerful caste communities like the Vokkaligas and Lingayats, as well as smaller groups, complained that their population numbers had been underestimated, calling for a new and scientifically conducted survey.
While Siddaramaiah insisted that the cabinet would "in principle" sanction the report, Shivakumar was categorical in his position, insisting that only fresh survey work could put an end to the general skepticism regarding the current data.
A new survey (enumeration) will be conducted now to remove the controversy surrounding the previous caste census regarding its accuracy and issues of under-representation of some communities. Data will again be gathered through door-to-door surveys and online questionnaires. The process would be entirely transparent," Shivakumar said after meeting the AICC leadership in Delhi.
As the new caste census process will take time, we will be going through the modalities of the census in the next Cabinet meeting. There is no cause for worry, as we will take everyone on confidence in this exercise," he added.
The BJP, however, mocked the chief minister's action on the issue, blaming the Congress for using the caste survey as a smokescreen to divert attention from the stampede tragedy.
BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra said, "Whenever the state Congress government faces crisis because of the failure of its administration, it suggests a caste census, not due to any social cause, but for distracting the country people."
Reiterating this allegation, BJP MLA Sunil Kumar criticized the government for wasteful expenditure of the taxpayers' money on a report now rejected by the party itself.
"It is also a big disservice to the backward and marginalized sections of society. The BJP had consistently brought to light the inconsistencies in the data. But Siddaramaiah proceeded with it. Now, the party high command has junked the report, citing discrepancies. Siddaramaiah has been deceiving the people for over a decade, bifurcating the communities. So, the BJP urges the Congress party and Siddaramaiah to apologize to the people," Kumar added.
