Caste census: Lingayats and Vokkaligas may adopt wait-and-watch approach post Cabinet discussion

The caste census report being submitted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah by  Karnataka State Commission for Backward ClassesCommission head Jayaprakash Hegde.
| Photo Credit: file photo

The politically dominant, land-owning Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva-Lingayat communities, which have for long opposed the socio, economic and educational survey (caste census) conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes are expected to adopt a “wait and watch” approach on the outcome of the Friday’s Cabinet meeting, where the issue is likely to be discussed. It has been nearly a decade since the survey was completed.

Sources said that the “sudden” decision to bring the issue before the Cabinet, apparently nudged by the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, at the Ahmedabad Congress session earlier this week, had taken both communities by surprise.

This had made a coordinated response difficult immediately, said the sources.

Not done earlier

Though in the past announcements were made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that the survey would be discussed in the Cabinet, it did not happen, allegedly under pressure from his Cabinet colleagues from the dominant communities. However, the issue finding mention in the agenda, which became public on Wednesday, has taken many by surprise.

The Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha and Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha, which were vocal in their opposition to the earlier moves to bring the issue for discussion in the Cabinet, have said that they will wait for the outcome and then formulate their response.

The mahasabha had even passed a resolution opposing the survey data in its current form and termed it “unscientific.” Both communities have insisted on a re-survey.

Submitted by Hegde

While the survey was conducted during the tenure of H. Kantharaj in 2015-2016, the report was finally submitted to the government in 2024 by K. Jayaprakash Hegde.

Government sources said that a sub-committee or a commission could be tasked to go through the survey report and make recommendations. It is anticipated that the report could be opened on Friday, sources said.

“Let the issue be discussed in the Cabinet. We will also explore avenues, including legal recourse, to oppose it. We will meet the Cabinet Ministers from the community and also the seer of Adichunchangiri Mutt Nirmalananda Swami,” said Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha president Kenchappa Gowda.

A source in the Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha said that they would see whether the survey report would cause damage to the community or not.

“We are not against the survey. But it has to be scientific. Let them reveal the data and we also have our data. We are exploring all possibilities,” the sources said.

Panel chief’s post vacant

Over a year after K. Jayaprakash Hegde demitted office as chairman of Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, the post continues to remain vacant.

Soon after submitting his report, Mr. Hegde had stepped down and contested in the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency in the parliamentary polls on the Congress ticket and lost.

The commission has been in the news for nearly a decade over the socio, economic and educational survey that it conducted in 2015-2016.

“The post remaining vacant is a cause for concern and contradicts the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s image as the champion of backward classes. It is also very disappointing as well as surprising that the post has not been filled by the Congress government,” a former official of the commission said.