Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Congress state president D.Ok.Shivakumar has joined Vokkaliga leaders to bat for a contemporary ‘caste census’, a requirement which will put Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on a sticky wicket.
Although the findings of the 2015 socio-economic and academic survey was not launched, leaked information from the report point out a lot decrease inhabitants of Lingayats and Vokkaligas than what’s generally believed. If launched, the report might bolster Siddaramaiah’s backward caste politics however find yourself undermining the clout of Lingayat and Vokkaliga leaders.
Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga himself, acknowledged to the media that he is without doubt one of the signatories to a letter demanding for a contemporary caste census to be performed in Karnataka.
The letter in query was written by the Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha, which requested Siddarmaiah that the 2015 report be rejected.
Aside from Shivakumar, H.D.Deve Gowda, S.M.Krishna, D.V. Sadananada Gowda, Shobha Karandlaje, H.D.Kumaraswamy from the BJP, the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress are the opposite signatories. ThePrint has seen the letter.
“Politicians from various communities have been rallying around this issue. Similarly, I have to wear the community hat and participate in apolitical meetings organised by the community. Is it wrong?” Shivakumar advised reporters in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
“Many communities are fighting for proportional reservation. Scheduled castes, Panchamasalis, Veerashaivas and Vokkaligas are all fighting. These demands are cutting across party lines. However, certain communities have said that they have not been contacted before the census and hence are demanding for a scientific caste census,” he added.
Leaked findings of the 2015 report signifies that the share of the Lingayats and the Vokkaligas had been down from what was believed to be 17 and 14 p.c to under 10 p.c.
Lingayats and Vokkaligas leaders concern that the report, if launched, will strengthen Siddaramaiah’s grip on backward courses politics whereas weakening the stature of the likes of Shivakumar inside his personal caste group.
Although the Congress has proposed a nation-wide caste census, the Karnataka authorities has saved particulars of the 2015 train below wraps to stop any backlash from dominant communities, in line with folks conscious of the developments.
The Siddaramaiah authorities has been in a repair over the discharge of the caste census because the ruling celebration is cautious of how dominant communities like Vokkaligas and Lingayats will react to the findings, ThePrint reported in August.
Siddaramaiah has struggled with extra opposition from inside his personal celebration in releasing the findings of the caste census. The chief minister, a Kuruba, in the meantime, pursues AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward courses and Dalits) and challenges the dominant caste concept in Karnataka.
There are eight Lingayats in Siddaramaiah’s 34-member cupboard, 5 Vokkaligas, six from the Scheduled Caste neighborhood, and three belonging to the Scheduled Tribes. There are two every from the Kuruba and Muslim communities, one Brahmin, and the remaining belonging to the Different Backward Lessons (OBC).
On Wednesday, BJP’s Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, a Panchamasali, questioned why motion was not taken towards officers of the state backward courses fee for the irregularities in submitting the report. The firebrand legislator from Vijayapura was referring to the letter written by the fee on 5 October that the unique copy of the report was misplaced.
In his letter, dated 22 November, and addressed to backward courses panel chief Jayaprakash Hegde, Yatnal questioned the irregularities within the division.
“On the face of it, losing the original copy of the socio economic & educational survey that was conducted by spending around Rs 180 crore, seems like a premeditated conspiracy. Even though the original copy was lost, there has not been one complaint from you or your department’s officials in any police complaint,” he wrote.
The caste survey sought to seize granular information with 55 questions, together with these to find out the variety of castes, their composition, reservation standing and advantages obtained, and their social, political and financial standing, amongst others.
In response to folks conscious of the developments, there have been 1,361 castes, sub-castes and synonyms earlier than the 2015 survey and this quantity has gone up considerably.
“We are finalising the report,” Hegde advised ThePrint on Wednesday. He didn’t disclose any extra particulars.
Additionally Learn: ‘Lay siege to MLAs’ properties’ — minister’s speech on SC sub-quotas lays naked fissures in Siddaramaiah govt
Caste matrix in state
The Vokkaligas and the Lingayats are arguably the 2 most dominant communities, occupying the very best places of work and largest chunk of political, social and financial reservation based mostly on its perceived measurement. There, nevertheless, has been no caste census since 1931 to lend credibility to those claims.
Reservation is a sensitive topic in Karnataka and any try and meddle with dominant communities has usually led to extreme political and social ramifications.
In 2018, the Congress authorities misplaced energy after it accorded a minority faith standing to the Lingayats. Although this was a long-standing demand from the neighborhood, the transfer to tell apart between the Veerashaivas and the Lingayats was projected by the BJP as an try to interrupt the ‘Hindu society’.
Equally, the BJP authorities misplaced energy within the Could meeting election after the ruling celebration was projected to have ignored senior Lingayat leaders. The BJP had carved out two new classes throughout the state backward courses checklist to placate the Lingayats and the Vokkaligas by eradicating the Muslims from the backward courses checklist.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Additionally Learn: Siddaramaiah-Shivakumar power-sharing talks refuse to die as Karnataka Congress MLAs received’t cease speaking