Of Stampede, Politics And A Caste Census

The horrific stampede during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) IPL 2025 victory celebrations that claimed the lives of 11 youngsters exposed the total failure of the state administration.

- RAMU PATIL Assistant Resident Editor

[e-mail] The powers that be failed to assess the situation and act promptly on it, crucial coordination was missing, and the overseeing mechanism went kaput. Caught in a tailspin, the State Government has taken several damage-control measures to salvage its image.

The opposition is stepping up pressure on the government to act against those responsible for the June 4 tragedy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and the High Court is also hearing a PIL. Now, at a time when the government is under intense public scrutiny over the stampede, it has taken a major decision to conduct a new caste census. It seeks to dump the contentious Socio-Economic Educational Survey 2015 (SES-2015), also known as the caste census report, and commission a fresh study.

Although the caste census was a long-standing issue, the timing, and manner in which the developments unfolded raise several questions: Was it in the offing even before June 4? Was it timed to deflect attention from the stampede? Why did Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was defending the SES-2015 despite opposition from the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities and pushback from many of his ministers, suddenly change his stand?

The decision to go for a fresh survey was taken during the CM and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's meeting with party central leaders in New Delhi on June 10. Two days later, it was ratified in the state cabinet.