2 days ago
Karnataka Congress needs more than holding OBC meet here to woo the communities to party, say activists
As the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has formed the Other Backward Classes (OBC) Advisory Council, which is set to meet in Bengaluru on July 15 to deliberate on the party's strategies to woo the OBCs, community leaders and activists believe that the party's exercise could be futile without a concrete show of its commitment in Karnataka, which is among the three States where it is in power.
Last week, the council's formation itself was stuck in a political storm in the State, where an embarrassing leadership tussle is under way to replace Siddaramaiah, the only OBC Chief Minister from the Congress in the country now. Meanwhile, those who have worked among the backward classes believe that the Congress government headed by Mr. Siddaramaiah has done little in concrete terms to benefit the most backward and more backward castes within the larger OBCs in the State.
The 24-member national panel formed by the AICC to discuss and strategise ways to woo the OBCs in the country includes Mr. Siddaramaiah, former Chief Minister M. Veerappa Moily, and B.K. Hariprasad, MLC, from Karnataka.
Setting aside the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (caste census), conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes headed by H. Kantharaj in 2015 and the recommendations submitted by the K. Jayaprakash Hegde commission in 2024, apparently under pressure from the land-owning and politically dominant Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas, is viewed as a failure of the Congress government's OBC politics in Karnataka. In fact, the Federation of Oppressed Classes, whose many leaders are from the Congress, have also criticised the decision. Though a new survey has been announced, leaders and experts have been skeptical about it.
Missed opportunity
'The Congress lost an opportunity to bring the most backward castes that are in the society's margins into the mainstream,' said a senior functionary in the party. 'The government sacrificed the interests of the most backward and more backward castes, which do not have political clout or representation in politics or bureaucracy, under pressure from two dominant communities that have bulldozed themselves into the OBC list. The government could have released the report and recommendations for public discussion, and formulated programmes for the most backward and more backward classes without getting stuck in the number game.'
Over the past few years, fearing dilution of their clout in politics over the population size as indicated in the survey, Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas have virulently opposed the findings, terming them as 'unscientific' and 'outdated'.
A source formerly associated with the commission, asked, 'Who is the Congress trying to woo back? In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the backward classes have their own parties. In Karnataka, Vokkaligas have what we could call their own party (Janata Dal-Secular), and Veerashaiva-Lingayats are seen as mostly with the BJP. The most and more backward classes are scattered but leaning towards the BJP more now.' He pointed out that the BJP recognised the importance of organising the numerically smaller backward castes by providing political representation and also choosing unheralded heroes from such communities for national awards, he pointed out. He sought to know if the OBC cell is even active in the Congress in Karnataka.
Dominant within OBC matrix
While nearly 70% of Karnataka's population has been identified as OBCs, about 40% of the OBC population comprises the politically dominant Lingayats (11%), Vokkaligas (10.29%), and Kurubas (7.3%), which total to about 28% of the State's population. Nearly half a dozen castes, including Ediga, Uppara, and Yadava, are seen to have progressed ahead of smaller castes. The nomadic, semi-nomadic, and minor communities, who constitute about 50% of the OBC population, have a meagre chance to compete in education or employment and do not receive political representation due to their small population size, sources in the commission said.
'If the Congress is looking at the numbers, it should look at the oppressed castes within the larger OBC fold. The Congress government has not made any attempt to do that while it is pandering to the politically important and numerically large three castes. The advisory council also does not have representation from the oppressed castes,' rued another source, who has worked in the backward classes commission.
