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Indian Express
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Why Siddaramaiah is still in driver's seat amid setbacks – caste survey to stampede
One month after the Congress government in Karnataka marked its second anniversary, a key question doing the rounds in the political circles is whether Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's hold on power has diminished in the wake of a series of setbacks, such as the Bengaluru stampede incident and the cancellation of the state caste survey. An analysis of the political situation and various developments, however, indicate that Siddaramaiah still remains a dominant political force that neither his party Congress nor the Opposition could ignore. An astute politician and OBC stalwart, Siddaramaiah has taken several steps to firewall himself from the repercussions of some recent setbacks. On June 12, the Siddaramaiah Cabinet decided to junk the caste survey which was conducted in 2015 during the previous term of the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government to gauge the social, economic and educational situation of various communities in the state, especially the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The survey, which was only unveiled at the Cabinet meeting on April 11 this year, was seen as a key to deliver social justice – the main plank of the Congress as well as Siddaramaiah in the state. The June 12 Cabinet decision came following the Congress high command's direction to the Siddaramaiah dispensation to re-enumerate the castes on account of objections from many caste groups. 'We will do whatever the high command says. It is not my decision. It is not the decision of the Cabinet. It is not the decision of our government. It is a decision of the high command. They have told us to go for re-enumeration,' Siddaramaiah said after the meeting called by the Congress top brass in Delhi on June 10. The CM later attributed the Cabinet move scrapping the caste survey to a provision in the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1995, which mandates a fresh survey of backward castes after every 10 years. While the cancellation of one of the CM's main social justice projects was seen as a setback, it was also considered a 'reprieve' for him since Siddaramaiah had himself, in his first tenure, considered the caste survey a political hot potato that could damage the Congress's fortunes in the state. 'The recent decision of the BJP-led Centre to include a caste count within the purview of the population Census provided the first reprieve for Siddaramaiah over rejecting the 2015 caste survey,' a state government official said. 'It gave an opportunity to the Congress to buy time on the caste survey,' the official said. The Congress central leadership's direction to the Siddaramaiah government to go for a fresh caste count came amid growing tensions among several groups in Karnataka — including the dominant Lingayats and Vokkaligas, and even sections of the OBCs — over the findings of lower numbers for them in the 2015 survey. 'In a state where the promise of social justice has long formed the ideological glue of the Congress party, the recent handling of internal reservations and the caste survey report has been nothing short of a political disaster. What could have been a moment of progressive reform has instead devolved into factionalism, mistrust, and caste polarisation,' a Congress leader said prior to the June 12 Cabinet decision. Among the primary sources of angst over the caste survey report among Congress leaders was its findings about an increase in numbers and backwardness of two communities that are considered to be Siddaramaiah's core vote base — the OBC Kuruba group to which Siddaramaiah belongs and the Muslim community. 'Siddaramaiah, known for his AHINDA (minorities, backwards and Dalits) platform, has been accused of skewing the recommendations of the caste survey report to disproportionately favour his own Kuruba community. The proposed 12% reservation for Kurubas without a clear and evidence-based rationale has enraged other OBC groups,' a Congress leader said. 'Nowhere in the public domain has the government clarified the metrics or socio-economic criteria used to justify this move. This blatant caste favouritism has fractured the larger OBC solidarity.' After the cancellation of the 2015 caste survey, Siddaramaiah himself said, 'Both the dominant and the weak communities have expressed objections to the survey report.' A silver lining for Siddaramaiah amid the caste survey fiasco is the point that several Karnataka CMs had in the past rejected reports of the Backward Classes Commissions due to objections from various dominant and backward communities. 'The opposition to the caste surveys in Karnataka is not new. It has been done since the 1960s with the Naganagouda Commission, Havanur Commission, Venkataswamy Commission and the O Chinnappa Reddy Commission being opposed. Every survey has been opposed by the dominant communities is what we have seen,' Congress leader B K Hariprasad, who belongs to the OBC Billava group, said about the rejection of the 2015 survey. However, Siddaramaiah still appears to have managed to consolidate his own base through the leakage of the 2015 caste survey report. 'Siddaramaiah has now cemented his position as the main leader of the Kuruba and Muslim communities in Karnataka, who are spread across every Assembly constituency and together make up nearly 20% of the state's population,' said an observer. 'Siddaramaiah who already had the support of a majority of 135 Congress MLAs has now strengthened his position further since all MLAs are dependent on the support of Kurubas and Muslims at the constituency level.' Apart from the Backward Commission's recommendation for a significant hike in quotas for Kurubas and Muslims in the 2015 survey, Siddaramaiah is also seen to have established a hold on these communities by 'favouring' them in various decisions and government postings. Earlier this year, the Karnataka government passed a legislation to provide 4% reservation for Muslims in government contracts with a value of up to Rs 2 crore. The law has been rejected twice by the Governor and is still awaiting implementation. On June 19, the Siddaramaiah Cabinet also decided to increase the quota for Muslims in state housing projects from 10% to 15%. 'Muslims have been found to be among the highest homeless communities,' state law minister H K Patil said. The move is perceived as another bid for consolidation of Muslim support for Siddaramaiah besides sending out a signal about the Congress's support for the minorities — not just to Karnataka but also to poll-bound states like Bihar. Siddaramaiah suffered another blow on June 4 when 11 people were killed in a stampede during a celebration by the fans of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) club at the M Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium in Bengaluru over its first-ever IPL title win. The stampede occurred even as Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar were holding a felicitation event for the RCB at the Vidhana Soudha, the government headquarters. There have been accusations of the stampede being caused due to administrative and systemic failures involving even the top echelons of the government. To tackle the row, Siddaramaiah suspended five police officers, including the then Bengaluru police commissioner, and ordered two separate judicial inquiries (apart from the police probe) into the incident. The decision to suspend senior IPS officer B Dayananda, who had largely served a two-year stint as a tough Bengaluru police commissioner without any blemish, over the stampede dented the police morale, but it did not have any political bearing on the CM or the Congress. 'I have acted on the basis of prima facie evidence of dereliction of duty by police officers… What is the action that BJP and JDS have been demanding? They wanted a judicial inquiry. We have constituted a judicial inquiry. All those who have committed mistakes, we have acted against them. What mistake has the government committed?' Siddaramaiah asked. He also said the stampede deaths hurt the Congress government. 'This incident should not have happened. After I became the Chief Minister, no such incidents had occurred. It has happened due to the mistakes of the officials, is what is prima facie evident. We have taken action. I have been hurt by the incident. The whole government is hurt by the incident,' he said.
Indian Express
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
After high command diktat, Karnataka government junks caste census report, to go for fresh survey
Karnataka's cabinet on Thursday decided to conduct a fresh socio-educational survey of various castes in the state and not to implement the recommendations of the previous survey–popularly called the caste census–conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes. The decision came after the Congress high command met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday, after which the party leadership asked Siddaramaiah to go for a 're-enumeration' of the populations of the different castes in the state. The diktat from the high command came when the chief minister was on the verge of having his cabinet clear the recommendations of the survey report in a special cabinet meeting held on Thursday. Siddaramaiah, who announced the decision at a news conference, referred to a provision under the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes Act to defend the fresh survey. As per Section 11, Clause 1 of the Act, the findings of the Socio-economic and Education Survey carried out in 2015 would be invalid as 10 years had passed since then. 'The State Government may at any time, and shall, at the expiration of ten years from the coming into force of this Act and every succeeding period of ten years thereafter, undertake revision of the lists with a view to excluding from such lists those classes who have ceased to be backward classes or for including in such lists, new backward classes,' the clause reads. 'The provision is very clear,' Siddaramaiah said, adding '…the cabinet, considering these clauses, has decided that since the commission conducted the survey 10 years ago, we will ask the commission to go for a fresh survey.' Responding to queries, the chief minister said the modalities of the exercise would be announced soon but the survey would be completed in a 90-day time frame. The recommendations of the survey report–such as shifting Kurubas from Category 2A (Other Backward Classes) to Category 1 (Backward Castes), enhancing reservation for Muslims under the 2B category from four to eight per cent, enhancing reservation for the 3A and 3B categories, which include the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities, from existing four and five per cent to seven and eight per cent, respectively–will now be scrapped. The re-survey is considered a setback for the chief minister, who had along with senior ministers such as Satish Jarkiholi and H C Mahadevappa pushed for the implementation of the survey. At the same time, the dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities and their leaders had cast apprehensions on the survey and publicly opposed its findings. Sources say that Shivakumar had opposed the report in the cabinet meeting held on June 5 and flew to Delhi earlier this week seeking the intervention of the high command. 'Both Vokkaligas and Lingayats teaming up due to the report would not augur well for the party in the next elections,' an aide close to Shivakumar said, claiming it to be the reason for the Vokkaliga leader to lobby against the report. Apart from that, prominent Lingayat leaders too are learnt to have complained to the Congress high command about the 'complications' the report would create if its recommendations were to be implemented. Siddaramaiah commissioned the survey in 2015 during his first tenure as chief minister and it was accepted by the state cabinet in April this caste re-survey, Karnataka caste census, re-enumeration of castes, Siddaramaiah, Vokkaliga, Lingayat, D K Shivakumar
The Hindu
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
After nudge by high command, Cabinet gives nod for fresh survey of castes
Nudged by the Congress high command, which had been petitioned by the politically-dominant Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat communities against accepting the Socio-Economic and Education Survey (caste census) report, the Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday gave its nod for a fresh survey. The Congress high command, on Tuesday, suggested to the Karnataka government to hold re-enumeration of caste data within a stipulated time to address concerns of some communities who complained of being 'left out.' With the Cabinet decision, the caste census of 2015 — which had been conducted for the first time during the colonial times in 1931 — is no longer valid. Reason for re-survey Saying that the lapse of 10 years since the conduct of the survey, by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes headed by H. Kantharaj in 2015, as the reason for re-survey, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in the post-Cabinet briefing, told presspersons: 'As per the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1995, a fresh survey is mandated every 10 years. A lot of changes would have taken place in this last 10 years in the social and educational realm.' He also said that the Cabinet had, in principle, agreed to the survey report submitted by Mr. Hegde. When Mr. Siddaramaiah's response was sought on if the State government was under pressure from the high command, the Chief Minister said: 'The process was on. The high command has also advised for a new survey. We are not doing it just because they asked us to do a new survey. We have not succumbed to the pressure of the high command.' Asked why the State Cabinet had accepted the report in April, 2025, when it was nearly 10 years (survey conducted between April 11-2015 and 30 May, 2015), the Chief Minister said: 'It was only after discussions started that we realised that by law and Constitutional provisions it has to be done after a lapse of 10 years. As per Section 11 of the Act, any report after 10 years is not tenable. The provisions in the Act is clear that a new survey has to be conducted every 10 years after which a new list of backward classes could be drawn by either deleting existing castes or adding new castes.' It was also pointed out to the Chief Minister that when Mr. Hegde submitted his report, the survey had not completed 10 years. Within 90 days Stating that the fresh survey work would be completed 'within 90 days of notifying', he said that members to the backward classes commission will be appointed in the 'next two to three days'. Currently, barring chairman Madhusudan R. Naik, who was appointed in February 2025, posts of nominated members are vacant. Government appoints five members to the commission besides the chairman. It may be mentioned here that when the first Siddaramaiah-led government conducted the first survey in 2015 at a cost of ₹165 crore, Karnataka was the first State in the country to undertake the survey after the national exercise conducted by the British in 1931. Bihar and Telangana have done the survey after Karnataka completed the survey.
