Bengaluru: A group that claims to represent some of the most depressed classes of society has objected to attempts by leaders of dominant communities to dislodge Siddaramaiah as chief minister of Karnataka, fueling the ongoing power struggle within the Congress in the state.
The Federation of Karnataka Depressed Communities has opposed statements by prominent community leaders backing members of their respective caste groups to “continue to enjoy more power”.
“Only landowning communities have had a higher share of power in Karnataka. In some cases, there have been members from other backward communities like S. Bangarappa, Veerappa Moily and now Siddaramaiah as chief minister. In such a political climate, there should be an opportunity for members of exploited caste groups to get power which will maintain some balance in society as well as provide social justice,” Mavalli Shankar, the convenor of the federation, told ThePrint.
The federation has put forth arguments of representation based on caste and inadvertently backed Siddaramaiah, who hails from the Kuruba community, and added a new paradigm to the largely political statements made by leaders from dominant communities like Lingayats and Vokkaligas.
Karnataka has had 23 chief ministers to date, of which 10 have been Lingayats and 7 Vokkaligas, and the remaining six from other communities.
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Activist warns of statewide protests
On 27 June, Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swami, who heads the Vishwa Vokkaligara Mahasamsthana Mutt, made a public appeal to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, asking him to step down and make way for Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to assume the top office in the state.
“Everyone has become chief minister and tasted power. Our D.K. Shivakumar alone has not yet become chief minister. Siddaramaiah has already enjoyed this position and in the future should give up power to D.K. Shivakumar,” he said during his speech at an event commemorating the 515th birth anniversary of Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bengaluru.
The Congress party stormed to power in the state, winning 135 out of the 224 assembly seats in the 2023 assembly elections.
Not long after the party registered a comfortable majority, intense negotiations began in Delhi with Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar making a case for themselves before the party high command. Siddaramaiah claimed the chair based on the support of MLAs and Shivakumar, based on the fact that he was the state Congress president who led the party to victory in the state. After intense discussions that lasted almost a week, Siddaramaiah was declared the chief minister and Shivakumar his sole deputy.
Though there was an informal assurance that Shivakumar would replace Siddaramaiah mid-way, the same was never formally acknowledged by the party high command.
But ever since there has been an uneasy calm within the Congress party with religious leaders, community leaders, elected representatives and other sections taking turns to make statements for or against the idea.
On Monday, Prabhulinga Doddamani, an AHINDA activist, warned of statewide protests if Siddaramaiah is replaced.
“We will always stand by our Siddaramaiah as his backbone. There have never been such statements in the past but two days ago, a seer did it. By doing this, it would impact religious beliefs and should refrain from doing so,” he said in Hubballi.
‘CM from our community’
In Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is largely dependent on Lingayats for votes, while Vokkaligas support former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress relies on the votes of backward classes and minorities, among others.
But caste-based support is not limited to parties alone and extended to individual leaders as well.
For instance, Siddaramaiah has projected himself as the champion of AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits).
Similarly, M.B.Patil, H.K.Patil and Eshwara Khandre from the Congress enjoy the support of Lingayats, while Dr C.N. Ashwath Narayan, R. Ashok and Shobha Karandlaje from the BJP enjoy the support of Vokkaligas.
Some like B.S. Yediyurappa and Deve Gowda are projected as leaders of their respective communities. Only minorities are believed to vote enmasse for the Congress as was seen in the 2023 assembly elections.
Shivakumar has styled himself as a Vokkaliga leader who could be an alternative to the JD(S). In January, he asked the community to strengthen his hands and vote for the nine Vokkaliga candidates to help him become chief minister.
Other than Hassan, the Congress lost in all four seats in Bengaluru, Mandya, Kolar, Chikballapur, Mysore-Kodagu and even in Udupi-Chikmagalur seat. Chamarajanagar and Kolar are reserved seats.
Other than Hassan, where Prajwal Revanna lost, Shivakumar can barely claim victory in any of the Vokkaliga-dominated regions. More so since his own brother, D.K. Suresh, lost from Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha seat.
Now community leaders, especially from dominant groups, have started to demand their dues for helping the Congress in 2023. Leading these demands are members of Vokkaliga and Lingayats, who nurse a feeling of neglect under Siddaramaiah, analysts and political observers say.
The two dominant communities have also tried to stall the release of the 2015 socio-economic and educational survey, better known as caste census, as they believe that the exercise would reduce their perceived proportion of the population and thereby stand to lose out. Siddaramaiah commissioned this report in 2015 which analysts say was to challenge the ‘disproportionate’ power enjoyed by the dominant communities.
Several Lingayat and Vokkaliga leaders, including Shivakumar, have opposed the move to release the findings.
Shivakumar also continued as state Congress president.
But it has been an uneasy peace as Siddaramaiah’s loyalists, including his now MLC son, Yathindra, have publicly stated that the chief minister would serve his full term, angering Shivakumar.
The state Congress chief has made many appeals and even issued stern warnings to party leaders, MLAs and ministers to refrain from making any comments on the issue but in vain.
Vokkaliga and Lingayat community leaders have of late demanded that one of their own be elevated as chief minister. This has added to the rift within the top leadership of the Congress party in Karnataka.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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