Caste Census: Lingayats, OBCs plan separate rallies to send message to Congress as it stands divided

Caste groups, split between pro and anti-caste census, are preparing for a major show of strength this month as the issue has divided the Cabinet and threatens to snowball into a political crisis for the ruling Congress in Karnataka.The Veerashaiva Mahasabha, led by veteran Congress lawmaker Shamnur Shivashankarappa, has resisted the caste census report, and is planning a big rally in Davanagere on December 24 to send a political message to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the party that they will only alienate the community if they accept the report. The State Permanent Backward Classes Commission has prepared the caste census or socio-economic survey report and is waiting for a signal for the CM to submit it.

Lingayat-Veerashaivas are the state’s largest as well as politically influential caste group. They are said to have backed the Congress in the May 10 assembly polls helping it win a landslide. Vokkaligas, the second largest community, have already petitioned the CM urging him not to accept the report, and the signatories include Deputy CM DK Shivakumar and Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy, besides some Congress MLAs.

Sections of OBC leaders, affiliated to the CM’s camp, are said to be planning a counter show in the neighbouring Chitradurga on December 30 with a turnout bigger than the one at Davanagere. Since Siddaramaiah is also a champion of minorities, backward classes and dalits (Ahinda), they estimate that these caste groups together are far larger in size than Lingayats, and hence they should not have problems in outshining the Lingayat rally.Siddaramaiah has not hidden his sentiments on the subject. Speaking to the media at Gadag on Sunday, he said it would not be right to question the credibility of the report based on speculation on the contents even before it was published. The question as to whether the report should be accepted or not would arise only after he gets it formally, he said, while sounding in favour of placing the report in public domain.

As for the two impending events, the CM, sources say, is supportive of the Ahinda convention his followers are planning as it would only strengthen his hands to accept the report and place it in the public domain. In Bihar’s case, in any case, the survey revealed OBCs, and extremely backward classes (EBCs) made up 63% plus of the state population. Siddaramaiah, a member of a backward community himself, sees the report as an opportunity to further his image as a champion of OBC groups and get OBC voters to back the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

He has been emboldened to unveil the report after the leaked reports suggest the actual caste-wise population, as assessed by the Commission, may reset the pecking order of castes.

The influential caste groups of Lingayats and Vokkaligas are insisting that the report is flawed as the socio-economic survey has not been conducted scientifically and many households have been left out.