The Congress has taken a big U-turn on the caste survey (socio-economic and academic survey) in Karnataka, which has created new challenges for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The Congress government, which has been trying to implement this survey for a long time, suddenly decided not to consider the 2015 survey as valid and announced a new survey. The objections raised on the credibility of the party high command report have been the main reason behind this decision. Siddaramaiah described Section 11 (1) of the ‘Karnataka Backward Classes Commission Act, 1995’ behind this decision and said that a new survey is necessary every ten years. However, he clarified that this decision is not his government, but the direction of the party high command. This makes it clear that this U-turn was against their will and they do not want to hold themselves responsible for this.
High command’s pressure and Siddaramaiah’s helplessness
After this decision, Siddaramaiah said, “This is not the decision of my government or cabinet, but the party high command.” This statement reflects their political crisis, where they are under pressure from the party’s decision and are trying to protect themselves. Significantly, earlier he had suppressed this survey report in his first term, but before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress led by Rahul Gandhi tried to implement it by making it a national issue.
Dispute and ethnic tension in survey report
After the caste survey report was leaked, it revealed several controversial recommendations, which led to dissatisfaction among various ethnic groups. Especially the recommendation to remove the Kuruba caste from OBC (2A category) to Category-1 made many influential groups including Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities. Along with this, the matter of excluding some other castes from the OBC quota also came in the report, which led to widespread opposition. For this reason, the party high command asked to reconsider the survey and this decision increased the difficulties of Siddaramaiah, as now they have to celebrate their supporting classes as well as to follow the instructions of the party.
Opposition attack and dual policy of Congress
The opposition party BJP has targeted the dual politics of the Congress on this issue. BJP’s R. Ashok said that when the party high command made pressure, the Congress decided to conduct a new survey, which is clear that the Congress does not trust the people and the monastery chiefs. He questioned that the 167 crore rupees that were spent on the 2015 survey, were they ruined now? Also, after the death of 11 people in the recent stampede at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the opposition alleged that the government was trying to divert attention from real issues on the pretext of caste survey.
Siddaramaiah’s political tricks and uncomfortable situation
The survey dispute has put Siddaramaiah in political crisis. They can neither openly oppose the party high command nor are they able to fully satisfy the social groups from whom they expected to support. In this situation he is trapped and his political image is being affected. Many political analysts believe that this U-turn is not just administrative, but part of the electoral strategy. The Congress is afraid that a major change in reservation on caste grounds may make the majority community angry in the Lok Sabha elections. Therefore, the party has decided to conduct a new survey at the moment.
