As hundreds of Vokkaligas swarmed the streets of Bengaluru on Monday vociferously supporting their community leader— outgoing Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda — the fearful question in many minds was whether the caste conflict had reached a point of no return in Karnataka?
The Vokkaliga-Lingayat battle is nothing new. It can be traced back to the mid Fifties when the Lingayats started targeting Vokkaliga chief ministers. After K.C. Reddy, a Vokkaliga, ruled the state from 1947-52, another Vokkaliga leader, Kengal Hanumanthaiah succeeded him. Hanumanthaiah was not castiest compared to his predecessor but feared the Lingayats may take control of Karnataka politics once the state reorganisation process was completed.
His fears were not misplaced with the Vokkaligas losing power when S. Nijalingappa became CM. From 1956 till 1972, Lingayats virtually ruled the state, be it the legislature, education or any other field. Then came the redoubtable Devaraj Urs, a formidable backward class leader, who successfully checked the dominance of Lingayats with the help of late Indira Gandhi.
If the Seventies belonged to the backward classes, the Eighties saw the Brahmins coming to the fore with two of them — Gundu Rao and Ramakrishna Hegde — ruling the state. This period also witnessed another Vokkaliga upsurge, led by none other than former PM Deve Gowda, who was not happy playing second fiddle to then CM, Hegde. His rivals say Mr Gowda played more than a minor role in pulling down the S.R. Bommai government in the late Eighties and the J.H. Patel government in the late Nineties as it did not suite his caste interests with both CMs Lingayats. Mr Gowda’s toppling bids also revived the Vokkaliga-Lingayat divide which has now touched a high point with Sadananda Gowda emerging as the darling of the Vokkaligas of south Karnataka overnight.
Surprisingly, none of this fervour was visible when he was sworn in as CM in August last year. Reason: Vokkaligas from the coast have never been accepted as genuine Vokkaligas by those in the Cauvery basin. Another irony is that it was former CM and Lingayat leader, B.S. Yeddyurappa who backed Mr Gowda for the CM post. Yeddyurappa has played his role in accentuating the caste conflict by seeking the support of Lingayat maths for his political moves which made seers of other communities rush to back their respective leaders. This despite the fact that the Vokkaligas and Lingayats have never clashed for the same political space.