BENGALURU: The two most influential communities of Karnataka — Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas — who had joined forces to resist the controversial Kantharaj Commission report, and had opposed it for nearly a decade, have welcomed the Congress government’s move to order a fresh caste survey.
They hailed the Congress leadership’s decision to scrap the old report and order a fresh survey, which could reshape Karnataka’s caste-ridden politics. The All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha declared, “We have no issue with reservation itself, but only demand a proper scientific study.”
The Mahasabha is planning a meeting on June 12 or 13 to chart their next steps, secretary Renuka Prasanna confirmed.
Vokkaliga leaders said it was GN Srikantaiah, the Rajya Vokkaligara Meesalathi Samiti and others who were at the forefront of the struggle. Vokkaligara Kriya Samithi president KG Kumar, who had resisted the Socio-Economic Caste Census since 2016, hailed the Congress move as “justice at last” for his community. “It’s a 10-year fight, and today, we are celebrating a hard-won victory,” declared Kumar.
“We demanded a new survey that’s scientific and thorough, and today, the CM, DCM and Congress ministers have delivered. We will gather next Wednesday to thank all our resource persons who stood by us. As our great poet Kuvempu said: ‘Sarvarigu Samapalu’, and that’s all we wanted.” Kumar showered praise on the army of community champions who had rallied in protest.
Vokkaliga leaders reminisced about the first-ever joint meeting with the Veerashaiva Mahasabha back in 2016, followed by another during Basavaraj Bommai’s tenure in 2022, and another in 2024. “We’d held dozens of meetings across the state, from Kolar to Kodagu to Mysuru to Hassan, and in 17 districts where Vokkaligas are a force to reckon with.”
“Both communities had maintained from the beginning that the report was riddled with errors and they had comprehensively highlighted the mistakes.’’