The task for the Congress is to win over the Lingayats in Karnataka

BENGALURU: Perhaps the largest obstacle Congress will face before the state’s second phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 7 is the adamant opposition of Lingayats to the socioeconomic and educational survey conducted by the state backward classes commission, often known as the caste census.

Aware of the situation facing the Congress, the BJP has made an effort to appeal to Muslims in order to win over supporters by creating the impression that the Congress intends to “redistribute wealth” among the impoverished via the census.

Leading the drive has been Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who even issued a warning to OBCs that their quota would be lowered and handed to minorities instead.

The Congress faces a greater challenge in the second phase of the caste census because the Lingayats, who control most of North Karnataka (averaging 22% of the vote in the 14 constituencies that vote on May 7), traditionally support the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Vokkaligas, the other politically powerful community, are also opposed to the release of the caste census, which was submitted to the government in February but never made public.

The primary complaint of the lingayats is that their number is estimated by the caste census to be 9%, as opposed to popular estimates of 17%.

The national secretary of the All-India Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha, HM Renuka Prasanna, said, “We are not against the caste census per se.” All we’re asking for is a scientific approach to the survey in order to get an accurate picture of the population. In this regard, the Congress manifesto is commendable as it calls for a new national poll to be carried out. However, if the party hopes to win the support of Lingayats in forthcoming elections, it must effectively communicate this message.

During his tenure as chief minister in 2015, Siddaramaiah gave the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, led by H Kantharaju, the task of conducting the caste census. But because of a technological glitch, the Kantharaju panel was unable to submit its findings. After correcting the “error,” a new panel led by K Jayaprakash Hegde sent the report to the government.

To the dismay of the Congress party, prominent Lingayat party members such as minister Eshwar Khandre and MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa have expressed their disapproval of the report. Even the Vok kaliga deputy chief minister, DK Shivakumar, expressed worries over the report.

The government has maintained, nevertheless, that the cabinet would debate the report before determining whether or not to release it to the public. The chances of the Congress party in the polls won’t be impacted, according to Khandre, the Mahasabha secretary-general. Sagar, his son, is a candidate running for Congress from Bidar.

BJP’s “awareness” campaign
However, BJP officials maintain that there is a problem with the caste census, particularly in the Lingayat region. They argued that because public campaigning had almost concluded by the time Modi brought up the subject, it was not as prominent in the first round of voting in the Vokkaliga area in south Karnataka.

Chief BJP campaigner N Ravikumar called the caste census “appeasement politics by Congress.” He was speaking about the BJP’s campaign in Bellary and Davanagere. “Lingayats and OBCs are aware of this. We are bringing it to people’s attention. It will affect how surveys turn out.