Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
Credit: DH Photo/S K Dinesh
Bengaluru: Having swept all three bypolls in the state by riding on a strong Ahinda (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) consolidation, a section of backward classes Congress leaders is keen to sustain the momentum by urging Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to soon table the caste census report in the Cabinet.
With the Congress and Siddaramaiah perceived to hold sway over the Ahinda communities, the caste census move may further consolidate the community in favour of the Congress.
Earlier, a delegation headed by former Backward Classes Commission Chairman C S Dwarkanath met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and urged him to implement the caste census report, officially called the socio-economic and educational survey.
However, the issue was kept on hold as the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct (MCC) was in place. With the election commission lifting the model code of conduct, the issue is back in the reckoning. Some Congress leaders feel they must press for it now itself when it is being discussed widely.
Guarantees Implementation Committee Chairman H M Revanna told DH that a delegation of backward class leaders would first meet before meeting the chief minister.
The caste census issue has been highly contentious. While the dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities have opposed it by alleging their numbers are undercounted in the report, the backward classes have batted for it, stating that effective social welfare measures are possible only when their actual numbers are known.
The consolidation of Ahinda votes was crucial for the Congress to register a 3-0 clean sweep in the bypolls.
“We worked in a very deep-rooted way. I concentrated on the MBCs, nomads and tribals. We also worked amongst the Christians. This helped to increase their voting percentage - usually around 45-50% - to over 80%. Even amongst the Muslims, the voting percentage increased,” said Dwarkanath, who is also the chairman of the social justice wing of the KPCC.
Noting that the Congress may have got around 50-60% votes of Bestha, Tigala and Balija communities, Dwarkanath said even smaller communities had voted in big numbers for the Congress.
“Dombara, Paniya, Hasala, Sudugadu Siddha, Helavas and other communities have nearly 10,000 votes. These votes consolidated behind Congress and helped us a lot.”