Karnataka's Caste-astrophe: Rahul's Census Gambit Has Already Backfired

Congress thought a caste survey could help oust Modi

Dear Reader,

Remember 'jitni abaadi, utna haq'? This was Rahul Gandhi's idea - you do a caste census, find out the numbers and rejig reservations to the oppressed communities according to the numbers in the survey.

Sounds easy right? But what major change in politics has been this simple? India's caste equations and associated reservations tend to be far more complex and nuanced than Rahul Gandhi's count and fix scheme.

The thing is he has refused to learn from what happened in Karnataka. The state did do a caste survey back in 2015 when the Congress was in power. But here's the twist: they've been unable to release the data to the public.

This is the story of why (or how!) a simple caste survey can potentially unleash a political storm in a state like Karnataka. It's not as simple as Rahul Gandhi imagines it to be.

https://swarajyamag.com/politics/look-no-further-than-karnataka-to-know-why-rahul-gandhis-cynical-bluster-on-caste-census-will-boomerang-on-congress

Amar Govindarajan