The decision to conduct a fresh caste survey in Karnataka, announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in June 2025, has ignited a firestorm of debate, raising questions about its implications for both Siddaramaiah’s leadership and the Congress party’s political fortunes. This move, prompted by the Congress high command’s directive to re-enumerate due to concerns over the decade-old 2015 Socio-Economic and Education Survey—itself a brainchild of Siddaramaiah—has cast a shadow over his legacy. The rejection of the 2015 survey’s outcomes by the Congress government, coupled with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government’s recent announcement of a national caste census, complicates the narrative. While Congress seeks to claim credit for pushing caste enumeration, the fresh survey in Karnataka could either be a setback for Siddaramaiah or a strategic opportunity for the party to reinforce its social justice credentials.

The 2015 caste survey, initiated by Siddaramaiah during his first term as Chief Minister, was a landmark effort to map Karnataka’s caste and socio-economic landscape. Conducted at a cost of over Rs 160 crore, it involved 1.36 lakh surveyors interviewing approximately 1.01 crore households, covering 94% of the state’s population. The survey estimated the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at 69.6%, a significant jump from prior estimates, with Muslims as the largest single community at 12.83%, followed by Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Siddaramaiah’s Kuruba community. However, its findings, particularly the........

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