In Karnataka, the Social and Educational survey to identify the Backwards Classes has finally begun, despite the consistent and conspiratorial opposition from the BJP and JD(S), as well as the dominant castes within the Congress.
The BJP, which has openly taken leadership of this crusade against the survey, is putting forward several deceptive arguments to justify its opposition, which is in fact aimed at retaining the status quo of hegemony of dominant castes.
The primary argument of the camp is that the government is actually conducting a census in the guise of a survey, for which it has no constitutional mandate, since a census is part of the Union list (entry 69, of List 1 in the Seventh Schedule). The underlying argument is that the Congress government wants to divide the dominant and consolidated castes into sub castes, thereby breaking the dominant castes' numerical and political strength.
This is nothing but part of the Sangh Parivar’s long-term agenda: politically, to take away all residual powers of the states and concentrate them with the Union as part of its strategy to convert federal India into a Unitary State; socially, to perpetuate the brahminical social order unchallenged.
With this goal, in 2018, the Modi government passed the 102nd Constitutional Amendment, snatching away the states’ power to identify backward classes and design targeted schemes to address backwardness. That power was transferred to the centrally controlled NCBC (National Commission for Backwards Classes).
But this amendment faced strong opposition even from the BJP’s state units, NDA allies, and opposition parties. The Supreme Court too (CA 3123/2020) held that this was against the federal structure of the Constitution and centralises the power in the hands of the centre.
Thus, the Modi government was compelled to correct itself. In 2021, it introduced the 105th Amendment.
Through this, the Union retained the power to maintain a central list of Backward Classes, while giving back states the authority to identify and prepare a state list of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes within their jurisdiction.
Although this was only a correction of the blunder caused by the 102nd Amendment, the BJP shamelessly propagated that the 105th Amendment was proof of its commitment to cooperative federalism.
Now, as the Congress government in Karnataka begins its caste census, the BJP is once again raising the claim that states have no authority to conduct such a survey. Their proxies and the dominant caste associations of the state have filed a Writ Petition in the High Court (WP 28671/2025), demanding a stay order on the ongoing survey, repeal of the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission Act, 1995, and the 2014 amendment introduced by the Siddaramaiah government which allowed the Commission to conduct a social survey of all citizens of the state to identify and classify backward classes.
For now, the High Court refused to stay the ongoing Survey, and also did not accept some of the arguments against the state's legislative competence to conduct the survey. But at the same time has also caved into the argument about legalistic differences between the Survey and the Census and has given a dangerous and contradictory order, making the participation of the survey voluntary. More about that later.
The Karnataka High Court also reminded petitioners of the landmark nine-judge bench judgment in the Indra Sawhney case (WP (C) 930/1990, popularly known as the Mandal judgment), which held that a caste can indeed be considered a social class, and that identifying backward classes may require a survey of the entire population.
The nine-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney case has upheld the constitutional validity of the reservation for the Backward castes and also mandated the states to constitute a Permanent Backward Class commission. It has also mandated the states to undertake a periodical social survey of the status of the Castes for its inclusion and exclusion in the Backwards Class list. Thus, the state’s right and duty to conduct a social survey of the populace is mandated by the Supreme Court itself.
The Constitutional bench has also answered many questions being raised by the BJP and the dominant castes today against the Survey.
For example, in para 859 of the judgement, it says:
“A caste can be and quite often is a social class in India. If it is backward socially, it would be a backward class for the purposes of Article 16(4). Among non-Hindus, there are several occupational groups, sects, and denominations which, for historical reasons, are socially backward. They too represent backward social collectivities for the purposes of Article 16(4).
(b) Neither the Constitution nor the law prescribes the procedure or method of identification of backward classes. Nor is it possible or advisable for the court to lay down any such procedure or method. It must be left to the authority appointed to identify. It can adopt such method/procedure as it thinks convenient and so long as its survey covers the entire populace, no objection can be taken to it.”
Likewise, in para 782, it reiterates:
“Coming back to the question of identification, the fact remains that one has to begin somewhere – with some group, class or section. There is no set or recognized method. There is no law or other statutory instrument prescribing the methodology. The ultimate idea is to survey the entire populace…”
The Karnataka High Court, in its order, points to the purport of the above observations of the SC. Which can be summarised as three judicial answers to the upper caste's objection against the turvey.
Backward Castes = Backward Classes
The Court made it clear that in India, castes are often equivalent to social classes. If a caste is socially backward, it qualifies as a backward class under Article 16(4). Thus, identifying a caste survey is a legitimate method of identifying the Backwards Classes. So one need not be defensive in identifying the survey as a caste survey. If it is not, why on earth did the state government identify 1500 castes for enumeration and categorisation?
Backward Class Reservation Not Limited to Hindus
The Court stated that even among non-Hindus, there are occupational groups, sects, and denominations that are socially backward. They also qualify for reservation under Article 16(4). This directly contradicts the BJP’s claim that reservation is only for the Hindu castes.
Survey of the Entire Population Required
The Court also clarified that since there is no prescribed method of identification, the authority can choose its own, but it must survey the entire population.
Hence the Siddaramaiah’s government’s amendment to Section 9(2) of the 1995 Backward Classes Act in 2014, changing the phrase “survey of backward classes” to “social survey of all citizens of the state.”
This was constitutionally sound. Because identifying the ineligible is as important as identifying the eligible. Dominant castes enjoying backwards-class benefits oppose the survey for precisely this reason.
In fact, a petition challenging this 2014 amendment (WP 9258/2015) is still pending in the High Court. But no interim order has been given, so there is no legal obstacle to the survey. Similarly, the Patna High Court upheld Bihar’s caste census, and the Supreme Court too (SLP (C) 16970/2023) refused to stay it.
Another BJP argument is that the survey violates citizens’ right to privacy. But in the famous Puttaswamy case on Aadhaar (WP (C) 494/2012), it was the BJP government that argued that Indians do not have a fundamental Right to Privacy!
Another argument is that since the Union will conduct an official caste census along with the 2027 population census, the Karnataka survey is unnecessary and politically motivated. DMK in Tamil Nadu, too, has expressed that caste data should officially be collected by the Union. So far, the Congress government has not given a strong counter to this. But unless the state shows a constitutional Commitment and conviction to surveys, bereft of administrative apathy and internal political conspiracies against it, the survey is prone to risk of being defeated.
But in the meantime, the very High Court Judgement which allowed the survey has made it redundant and prone to systemic failure!
While the Karnataka High Court did not stay the survey, it ruled that :
(b) The Commission shall issue public notice clarifying that participation in this survey is voluntary and no person is obligated to disclose any information as sought. The participation in the impugned survey and disclosure of any information is purely voluntary.
(c) The above information would necessarily have to be communicated to all participants at the outset by the enumerators before calling upon them to answer any queries or to participate in the impugned survey.
(d) If the participant declines to participate in the survey or answer any query, the enumerators would take no further steps to pressurise the participants, in any manner, to divulge any information or his identity.
Thereby defeating the very purpose of the survey and rendering it incomplete due to possible insufficient and representative data to quantify and categorise backwardness due to the possible non-participation of the different sections of the populace.
The logic behind this is that the caste survey is not a “Census” under the Census Act, which mandates compulsory participation. But without accurate information, how can the state distinguish between eligible and ineligible groups for social justice programs?
Already, the upper caste leaders of the BJP, like Tejasvi Surya and Prahlad Joshi, are calling for a boycott of the survey, citing this order. Even dominant-caste leaders within Congress are covertly doing the same. BJP is also spreading fear that answering survey questions could lead to losing welfare benefits like BPL cards, thus discouraging participation and undermining the survey’s accuracy.
The Congress government’s political hurry, the dominant castes' conspiracy from within and half-hearted preparation have also contributed to this impasse.
Nevertheless, the BJP’s hypocrisy has been exposed once again — not just a forked tongue, but many tongues, all filled with the poison of Manuvadi ideology.
The oppressed and exploited of the socially backward communities must come together beyond party lines and caste divisions as a united social force to defeat these casteist conspiracies.
Shivasundar is an activist and freelance journalist.
Views expressed are the author’s own.