Centre's move pushes state's caste census report to back-burner

The State Government's contentious caste survey report, which was showing signs of triggering a political storm, is now likely to be put on the back-burner after the Union Government's announcement of the caste census along with the national population census.

- Ramu Patil

However, the tug-of-war over the issue of caste census will continue or might escalate at the state and national levels over the next few months. As Congress attempts to set an agenda for the Centre, the BJP, which was on the defensive, will storm into the issue with confidence.

For Congress and its government in Karnataka, the Centre's announcement provided a breather to reassess the entire issue and fine-tune their strategy, given the differences within the party and even among the ministers over the decade-old survey report. Also, it faces the risk of antagonising dominant communities opposing the survey report.

Those privy to the developments in the state government believe that the report is likely to be shelved for at least a few months for the government to wait and watch the Centre's next move before deciding on the next course of action. A special cabinet meeting to exclusively discuss the state caste census report was not held on May 2, as contemplated earlier. The ministers may discuss it in the next cabinet meeting on May 9, in view of the Union Government's announcement.