India is changing. Karnataka is also clearly showing the changes taking place in India. This change is slow and not easy to understand. The politics of caste or in other words the politics of identity is also changing.
Image Credit source: PTI
Election managers of political parties in India have always found the caste system useful in society to divert attention from issues of development. Promoting caste interests, distorting the differences between them and manipulating their shortcomings to win elections and stay in power has been a successful gimmick. Congress She excelled in this game and was successful in staying in power for decades. from other parties in Mandal’s later years BJP Got ahead in this race. The upliftment and socio-political aspirations of the backward castes have complicated the game to some extent but the parties are trying their best to stay ahead in the game. clearly B J P Far ahead than others.
People generally understand that caste is not a big factor in southern states as compared to north Indian states. But this is an illusion. Even in the southern states, caste has more influence than other issues. The politics of Telugu speaking people in Tamil Nadu is actually based on caste. Even the ruling Left Democratic Front in “progressive” Kerala has learned how to use caste to stay in power.
Caste system prevails in Karnataka
But it is the state of Karnataka which, despite its IT, metropolitan city of Bengaluru and its massive education and healthcare infrastructure, is largely based on caste, socially, politically and even in terms of income and wealth. Despite being among the top five states in the country in terms of its educational infrastructure and engineering and medical colleges, the caste system is deeply entrenched in the society. In fact the Lingayats, the largest community in numbers, and the Vokkaligas, the second largest community, have a large educational empire which gives them immense power.
The glitz of Bengaluru and its cosmopolitan set-up provide an opportunity to hide Karnataka’s deep-rooted caste system. After capturing a large part of the political power, complete control over the education and health sector, the dominant communities of Karnataka try to protect their special status. The results of the Mandal Commission and the desire of the backward-SC/ST to move forward have put their power in danger. In 2019, through reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the general category, they tried to maintain a firm grip on their political and economic power. These two dominant communities alone hold, according to many estimates, nearly half of all high-ranking government jobs, giving them enormous political clout.
Bommai government is in this effort
The upcoming assembly elections to be held in April-May and surrounded by crises on all fronts, the Bommai government is now trying to support these two major communities in the elections. The Bommai government increased the educational quota for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from 15 and 3 percent to 17 and 7 percent, respectively, while promoting them in the reservation. This clearly shows the strong hold of the caste system on politics and governance.
The government has tried to include the powerful and wealthy backward castes Lingayats and Vokkaligas in the economically weaker sections quota. They have been placed in the category of economically and socially weaker castes from the canceled 3A and 3B categories. 2C and 2D new categories have been created in which 4% reservation has been given to Vokkaligas in 2C and 5% reservation to Langayats in 2D. People from these two communities who do not fall in the 2C and 2D categories have been kept in the unutilized part of the EWS.
This law will not stand in the courts if challenged. Certainly it has been brought as a political stunt regarding the elections to be held after four months.
Water on the aspirations of Panchmasali
But this step of the government has turned water on the aspirations of Panchamasali, a major sub-caste of the Lingayat community, due to which many controversies have started to arise. Vokkaliga may be making noise on the surface but he is quite happy from inside. But the Brahmins are feeling that their quota has been reduced by giving space to dominant communities within the EWS. He is protesting. In a way, his own step seems to have overshadowed the Bommai government.
Panchmasali is now demanding that he be included in the 2A group, which is meant for the most marginalized OBC castes. Reservation of 2A is for those doing traditional occupations like Dhobi, Pasi, Teli. Socially and politically strong Panchmasali does not fit in this category due to which the government is under pressure.
that’s why the bill was canceled
Everything has become muddled. But if the government comes again with the 73 percent quota of the previous Veerappa Moily government, then this problem can be solved. But the Supreme Court rejected this bill on the ground that the government did not have enough caste data to give reservation. Encouraged by the Karnataka bill, the then Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu brought 69 percent quota and the court approved it. But the Moily government failed to present sufficient figures before the court and the bill was struck down.
Reservation in the name of social justice has been an important issue in Karnataka. Several commissions were formed in Karnataka, from the Havanur Commission to the T Venkataswamy Commission under the Devraj Urs government. These commissions were successful in giving the list of backward castes but failed to collect the figures of their percentage in the population. Most of the commissions did not get the necessary support from the bureaucracy headed by Vokkaliga and Lingayat officials. Officials from the Vokkaligas and Lingayat communities are apprehensive that a scientific survey might undermine their claim of being the two largest communities in the state, thereby reducing their political and social influence. In this way, the last attempt to enumerate the castes was the Kanthraj Commission which did not get the necessary support.
Commission report can be explosive
Despite all this, the Kantharaj Commission, set up by the Siddaramaiah government to “survey” the social, educational and economic status of backward castes, submitted its report to the government, which was not formally tabled in the assembly. If its parts leaked in the media are to be believed, then the report of the commission can prove to be explosive. According to a report by Vijaya Karnataka, the Commission’s report recognized the Scheduled Castes as the largest demographic group in Karnataka, combining both the untouchable and untouchable sub-castes. In Karnataka’s population of 6.11 crores, the percentage of Scheduled Castes i.e. Scheduled Castes is 1.08 crores. Muslims are on the second number in terms of numbers with 75 lakhs. Lingayats and Vokkaligas came third and fourth with 59 and 49 lakhs respectively. Kuruba is the fifth largest community with a population of 4.35 million. Apart from these, there are 42 lakh Scheduled Tribes, 14 lakh Edikas and 13 lakh Brahmins.
Naturally, far from accepting the report, socio-politically strong communities will try to block this report at all costs, irrespective of whether the government is BJP, Congress or JD(S)-led. On the other hand, anticipating that his days of supremacy are numbered, he is pressuring the governments he controls to maintain his supremacy. This is what is happening these days in Karnataka.
Congress is accusing
To pacify the Lingayats after removing BS Yeddyurappa as chief minister, the BJP appointed a weak leader in the form of Bommai, who has to face assembly elections in the next four months without much achievement. An aggressive Congress has termed the present government as the most corrupt ever in the history of the state. The suicides of several government contractors have worsened the situation amid allegations of demanding bribes from ministers without any reason.
There is internal resentment among Lingayats due to the removal of Yeddyurappa. In his place, Basavaraj Bommai is a leader for the high command and the Karnataka BJP who can be molded according to the mind. The community stands with the BJP with body, mind and wealth and has played a key role in bringing the party to power in the state. But there is anger among young Lingayats about how the BJP has taken the community for granted. Panchmasali is openly expressing his anger towards the BJP. Other marginalized communities can also express further dissatisfaction.
As far as the Vokkaligas are concerned, the king-maker party JD(S) is on the decline. Its chief former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda is above ninety years old. They are no longer as effective as they used to be till some time ago. Like the Lingayats, the youth among the Vokkalingas are influenced by the BJP and see it as the ruling party. In such a situation, he is constantly standing behind with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The reservation quota which has been brought to pacify them will give good results in their case.
But does this caste-based engineering work in elections?
India is changing…
It remains to be seen. India is changing. Karnataka is also clearly showing the changes taking place in India. This change is slow and not easy to understand. The politics of caste or in other words the politics of identity is also changing. There is a change in Lingayats. Like the religious heads, the leaders of the Lingayat community are either no more, or are just dying or have been discredited by being involved in a sex scandal. Unlike their elders, the youth are not under the influence of Lingayat saints. They are ambitious, driven and modern.
Young Vokkaligas also do not have much attachment towards religious places. He is more materialistic and is not attached to religion with devotion. They see BJP as a party that can fulfill their aspirations. But their elders still see Deve Gowda as the head of the community and follow him as an example.
caste and community politics
The new identity politics will favor the party that can bring change. Politics of caste and community cannot always be successful. We have also experienced this recently. Take for example the Siddaramaiah government that ruled between 2013 and 2018. Siddaramaiah, unable to draw Lingayat votes, tried to divide Lingayats with the demand for a separate religion through his trusted aide MB Patil.
Despite some good work, the Siddaramaiah government lost the election because Lingayats felt that the government was trying to weaken their community. Bommai is not wiser than Siddaramaiah. Siddaramaiah has been the most influential and wisest leader of Karnataka in a decade. It is possible that this attempt of Chief Minister’s social engineering through reservation will not only go futile but also completely ruin the BJP in the state.
If the party has to retain power after the elections in the coming summer, it will have to think better. BJP will not only have to focus on renewal, but it will also have to reinvent itself once again. He has to present himself as an agent of change. Does BJP have the wisdom to do this? So far this has not been seen anywhere.
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