CASTE SURVEY POSES PUZZLE FOR KARNATAKA CONGRESS

The debate on the caste survey in Karnataka has unleashed political convulsions in state politics in general and the state's ruling party in particular.

- SANDEEP SHASTRI

The leading opposition, the BJP, is watching from the sidelines and hoping that the Congress's internal contradictions will remain center-stage and they would be able to reap its political dividends. With the Congress central leadership committed to caste surveys as part of its commitment to social justice, there has been sustained pressure on Congress governments to demonstrate visible action on the ground to honor this promise.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's decision to bring the caste survey to the fore almost half-way down his second term brings up questions on its timing. The party has faced a series of challenges in his second term. The 2024 Lok Sabha election setbacks, the range of corruption charges facing him as well as other ministers, and the rumored power-sharing dilemmas are all contextual factors. It may be useful to look at the developments from two perspectives—the survey's context and its content.

For the context, one needs to go back to Siddaramaiah's first term as chief minister. It was then that the decision to conduct such a survey was taken, with the tentative findings ready towards the end of that term. The leadership took a decision to hold back from announcing the findings. Many would link it to an important poll plank of the Congress in the 2018 assembly elections. The party favored according the Lingayats the status of a separate religion. Announcing the caste survey's findings could well have created major challenges in taking forward the manifesto pledge.