Political tensions simmered in Karnataka on Monday, days before a crucial cabinet meeting to discuss the findings of a controversial caste survey that reportedly recommended dramatically restructuring the state’s caste matrix, with Vokkaliga and Lingayat leaders calling the exercise “unscientific”, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rejecting the study and fissures appearing even within the Congress government.
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah appeared to temper his response to the survey, after initially backing the report and calling it “95% perfect”, even as his deputy DK Shivakumar convened a meeting of the party’s Vokkaliga leaders at his residence on Tuesday to tamp down on rising discontent within Congress ranks and amid sharp responses from influential figures from the dominant community.
ALSO READ | Senior BJD MLA urges Naveen Patnaik to demand caste census in Odisha
“We have convened a cabinet meeting on April 17 to discuss this subject alone. I will speak on the topic only after discussion,” Siddaramaiah said.
News reports, including in Hindustan Times, cited portions of the yet-unreleased survey on Monday and said backward classes made up 70% of the state’s population, Scheduled Castes (SC) comprised more than 18% and Muslims nearly 13%, while the dominant Vokkaligas and Lingayats made up less than 25%.
Based on this, the caste survey suggested shaking up the province’s reservation matrix and pushing cumulative caste-based quotas to 75%.
It recommended increasing reservations for Muslims from 4% to 8% and for people from Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from 32% to 51%, said people aware of the findings. However, the report suggested just 7% and 8% reservations for Vokkaligas and Lingayats, respectively.
ALSO READ | Necessary to conduct caste census with decadal headcount, says Mallikarjun Kharge
The findings of the survey, conducted in 2015 during Siddaramaiah’s first term, triggered a state-wide firestorm and the Congress’s Vokkaliga MLAs demanded that the exercise be conducted afresh, said people aware of the matter. The party has 21 SCs, 9 Muslims, 23 Vokkaligas and 34 Lingayats in the 224-member House.
Vokkaliga Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and Basavaraju V Shivaganga rejected the findings.
“The survey is unscientific. No one has come to my house,” said Shivashankarappa.
Shivaganga said the report was “confusing” and did not reflect demographic realities.
“I do not agree with any aspect of it,” he said.
The study surveyed 59 million people in Karnataka, just short of the state’s population of 61 million, according to the 2011 Census. Of those, roughly 6.6 million were Lingayats and 6.1 million Vokkaligas, said the study.
ALSO READ | Communities trying to protect their interests, nothing wrong in it: DK Shivakumar on caste census
The State Backward Classes Commission, under its then chairperson H Kantharaju, was in 2015 tasked with preparing the report. The survey itself was completed in 2018 and the report was finalised in February 2024.
Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga, stopped short of criticising the dissenting legislators.
“They can put forward their stand as per the Constitutional provisions,” he said, responding to Shivashankarappa’s remarks.
A string of state ministers also treaded lightly and said the cabinet was yet to accept the survey’s findings.
Home minister G Parameshwara said the cabinet had just received the report and discussions were yet to take place.
“We have been given copies and ministers have been asked to discuss only this subject on April 17. The matter of accepting it and other issues arise after the meeting,” he said.
Citing the report’s long gestation, Parameshwara indicated that there were multiple challenges in publishing it.
“It would be inappropriate if I said something about it at this stage,” he said, adding, “I won’t comment on the criticism. Opinions will be made. Let’s discuss this.”
Cooperation minister KN Rajanna also clarified and said, “The government had not yet taken a decision on accepting the report.”
BJP leaders attacked the Congress government and accused it of trying to stoke caste divisions for political gains.
At a press meet in Bengaluru, BJP state president BY Vijayendra said, “The question is whether the state government even has the authority to conduct a caste census… Cabinet ministers themselves have expressed dissatisfaction with the report.”
“Whenever Siddaramaiah feels politically threatened or insecure about his position, he brings up this issue again,” he added.
A raft of key socio-religious leaders in the state also dismissed the reports.
Channasiddarama Panditaradhya Shivacharya Swami, a Lingayat religious leader from Srisailam Peetha called the report “unscientific” and said it was prepared with a prejudiced mindset.
“The report that has been prepared is unscientific, inappropriate, and prepared with a prejudiced mindset. This is what people are discussing,” he said
Kenchappa Gowda, president of the Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha, a religious body of Vokkaligas, said the figures were unacceptable.
“We have 114 sub-castes and not 48 among Vokkaligas and our population is certainly much higher than 61 lakh (6.1 million),” he said. The group was also scheduled to meet on Tuesday and discuss the issue.