Karnataka's 2015 Caste Census: How Siddaramaiah's pet project met its end

This was a poll promise Siddaramaiah wanted to keep amid pressure from the Ahinda, the political support base he has nurtured over the years.

Bengaluru: The 2015 Social & Educational Survey, which formed the bulwark of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political narrative, met its death after Congress pulled the plug on it, in what seems to have unravelled over just four days, it has now emerged.

If Siddaramaiah had had his way, the 2015 Caste Census -- conducted during his first term in office at a cost of Rs 165 crore -- would have been accepted at the special Cabinet meeting held on Thursday and a decision made on implementing its recommendations, which included hiking OBC quota from 32% to 51%. Instead, it was decided to conduct a fresh survey.

It was on June 6 that the Cabinet secretariat, which reports to Siddaramaiah, fixed a special meeting on June 12 exclusively to discuss the Caste Census.

By then, the Cabinet had deferred the subject four times. Several communities, including the 'dominant' Lingayats and Vokkaligas, were up in arms. But an unfazed Siddaramaiah was restless.

By scheduling the special Cabinet meeting, Siddaramaiah conveyed to the Congress high command his intention to go ahead with the report. This was a poll promise Siddaramaiah wanted to keep amid pressure from the Ahinda (minorities, backward classes and Dalits), the political support base he has nurtured over the years.

This is uncannily similar to what happened in November 2020, when BJP's BS Yediyurappa was at the receiving end of speculation that he may be asked to step down as the chief minister.

At a Cabinet meeting, Yediyurappa wanted to recommend to the union government the inclusion of Veerashaiva-Lingayats under the Central OBC list, which would have been a huge policy decision. This tantrum-like move drew the attention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who dialled Yediyurappa before the Cabinet meeting and asked him to drop the proposal.

In this case, alarm bells rang among Congress lawmakers, even those in Siddaramaiah's camp, who felt that the 2015 report could do more harm than good for the party.

Lingayats, Vokkaligas and other communities wanted a fresh survey on the grounds that the 2015 one had "undercounted" their population.

Sources said an SOS was sent to the top brass. Accordingly, Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar were called to New Delhi for talks on June 10 -- four days after Siddaramaiah scheduled the special Cabinet meeting. AICC general secretary KC Venugopal announced that Siddaramaiah had been asked to "re-enumerate" castes. With that, Siddaramaiah's pet project met its end.