Column : The die is caste

In a country where there is an abundance of politicians in the category of Mr 10 per cent Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has got himself the moniker of being Mr 19 per cent,but in a totally different context.

In a country where there is an abundance of politicians in the category of Mr 10 per cent (as in the percentage of commission they charge on deals) Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has got himself the moniker of being Mr 19 per cent,but in a totally different context. That 19 per cent is the Lingayat community vote,which is solidly behind Yeddyurappa and appears to be the bedrock on which the BJPs fortunes rest in the state. It is also a support base which the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) are finding very difficult to break,in their struggle for relevance in Karnataka.

All this being said,therefore,Governor HR Bharadwajs head-on confrontation with the BJP-led state government has more connotations for the Congresss fortunes than is apparent at first sight.

The politico-demographic make-up in Karnataka is quite simply divided between the Vokkaligas and the Lingayats. The Vokkaligas have a voting population of around 16%,while the Lingayats comprise 19% of the vote bank. The Congresss see-saw with the Lingayat vote began in the 1960s when S Nijalingappa broke off from the Indira-led Congress to throw in his lot with the Congress (O)since then only when Veerendra Patil was part of the Congress did the party get an unreserved support of the Lingayat community.

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Over the years,Yeddyurappa has been successful in capturing this 19%,a fact that has helped him counter not just the Opposition but also any moves to replace him within his own party.

In capturing the Lingayat vote,Yeddyurappa has done two major things. One,he has extended immense patronage to Lingayat religious trusts called mutts; two,he has played on a historical sense of persecution among the community to engage its sympathy.

Yeddyurappa has not only given out huge amounts in donations to these mutts,but a few days ago the state saw an extraordinary outpouring of very public support for him from these religious institutions on television.

The communitys sense of togetherness comes from being a persecuted religious sect within Hinduism. It was founded by the 12th century seer Basaveshwara during the heydays of the Bhakti movement,and was reviled by the orthodoxy; its survival and spread in Karnataka is a story of grit in the face of persecution. Therefore,when a fellow community man is persecuted,like in the case of Yeddyurappa,when he wasnt given his turn at chief ministership under an agreement with the Janata Dal (S),there is an outpouring of sympathy. A central government appointed governor going after a duly elected chief minister is also likely to elicit a similar reaction.

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All this is not to say that the Yeddyurappa government does not have serious allegations of graft against it,but that those fighting against it should be the political opposition in the state. It doesnt help that in the midst of some of the worst allegations made against Yeddyurappa,the BJP has swept the panchayat polls.

The Opposition has been fairly inept in dealing with Yeddyurappa politically. Despite understanding the caste make-up of the state,the Congress has been unable to hit him where he is most vulnerable. Politics,at the end of the day,is a game of ideas and how they translate into numbers; the Karnataka chief minister seems to have both on his side at the moment. The reliance on the governor,therefore,can only spell doom and an extended stay in political wilderness.

The Congress and the Janata Dal (S) need to understand that. Whatever the outcome of the war between Yeddyurappa and the Governor,it will be the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) who will be the loser.

nistula.hebbar@expressindia.com